You Came Back
by How-not-to-do-something
Summary: "I don't care where you've been, I'm just happy you're here." Sequel to The Coming Dawn. Rated M for the usual reasons.
1. Chapter 1

In the city of Ankara, life went on as it aways had. The capital of the state known today as Turkey was a bustling metropolis, not so much as the city that once held the title of center of the nation, but still impressive enough to warrant an appreciative look. It had and continued to see visitors from many places, chiefly Europe though in recent years there was an influx of peoples from nearly every corner of the globe.

In the outskirts of the city, the embassies of the numerous countries Turkey had established relations with were located in one heavily policed district. No one wanted an incident in a location such as this, even in times of peace. With the declining international situation, including a move to the immediate north that had brought a resurgence of an old fear within the nation, that applied doubly.

For one particular embassy, a three story plain looking brick building belonging to Country F, a meeting was taking place between a legal government representative and a woman who was part of a profession that was openly illegal in most of the first world. Inside, in a spacious yet spartan office, the representative, the woman, and one of the latter's nine bodyguards met for a quiet arrangement that's full implications would not be visible for some time. While claiming the future of the nation was decided here was exaggeration, its importance was not to be underestimated.

"Miss Hekmatyr" greeted the army colonel, extending a hand to the pale arms dealer. He was a veritable giant of a man, easily six feet tall and dusky skinned, currently clad in a simple desert camouflage fatigues instead of a formal dress uniform, topped by a red beret. With his sleeves rolled up and his friendly smile, she relied on the patches above his breast pocket to identify his rank.

"Colonel Salah" Koko Hekmatyr, the pale skinned arms dealer of HCLI, greeted back, wearing a normal smile while she shook his rough hand. Early twenties, pale skin, and white hair were the first things people tended to notice about her, which she didn't mind. Her plain female business suit was, as always, impeccable. Even after a gamut of deals made this week, she still looked the part of the cold professional.

Letting go, he gestured to one of the chairs in office. To the one bodyguard that the embassy official allowed in the same room as the official, in this case Lutz, he gave a polite nod. The blond ex-cop nodded back and stood by Koko as she took the thin leather seat. He wore polo and khakis suited for the warm building, his coat having been left in the waiting room downstairs. By his side was an undecorated metal briefcase, part of the trend that had his boss grumbling obscenities about the current market.

"I welcome you to my office today. I've heard so many good things about you" he opened.

"I'm sure you have" she smiled friendlily, as she tended to do for clients.

"So, shall we get down to business?" Colonel Salah offered.

"Lets" she agreed.

The woman's appearance was different to what she was several months prior, before the uncomfortable and increasingly insistent questions about the righteousness of her actions began to creep up on her. She had elected to get a haircut, reducing her shoulder length white hair to cover only her neck. Her suit was a different style than she was accustomed to, having far more blue than she normally went for, although with winter's icy grip finally weakening she was considering going back to her previous white ensemble for operations in Europe.

What hadn't changed was the spark of life in her eyes, a passion for life that had been dulled but could never be extinguished. Neither had her skills in making sure clients received exactly what it was they wanted, for the right price of course. Those skills meant a half hour was all the time she needed to fulfill this man's request, finishing by filing out a series of documents that made a phone based arrangement a reality. Upon the signing of the last paper Colonel Salah clasped his hands together, rubbing the one that had been busy writing with to relieve its soreness.

"Congratulations Colonel, five minutes from now I'll forward a message to HQ, and in five days a ship bearing one hundred FV510 Warrior infantry fighting vehicles with associated equipment and ammunition will be pulling into your port city" Koko finished proudly. The broad grin on the arabic man held nothing back.

"I'm sure you get this a lot Miss Hekmatyr, but you are a lifesaver" he complimented, which she casually brushed off.

"Its what I do Colonel" she replied easily. He nodded.

"I am glad that my country has these IFVs now, with the declining international situation our fleet of American M113s are simply inadequate" he commented, trying to draw her into a conversation. Though she would've preferred not to, Koko knew better and chose to play along.

"You're referring to the civil wars on the peninsula?" she started.

"Them as well. After the Americans withdrew from Iraq things there are continuing to get worse, and are threatening to spill over into my country. We've had several border incursions already, fortunately few of those have been serious. What troubles me most is the Neo-Soviet Union. Its been only a couple months since they've re-established and we've already had more than a dozen foreign agents attempt to infiltrate my country" he shook his head, a frown replacing his cheer.

"You're not the only one. My contacts in the Baltic states have informed me that those nations militaries have gone on alert, as have Poland and Finland. The Neo-Soviets have repeatedly assured them that they're not interested in annexation, but they remember the same line being used in the nineteen thirties" Koko explained.

"Indeed, it seems trouble is brewing everywhere. Problems on the Korean Peninsula, tensions in central Africa, wars in South America, terrorism outbreaks in Europe, and so on. I pray daily that things won't escalate further, but the evidence in front of my eyes tell me otherwise. Odd to think our old enemy may now be our most reliable ally in these times" he spoke grimly.

"The world has always been dangerous Colonel" she reminded, which he nodded to once again.

"That is true. But these days, especially with...oh, I almost forgot. What about the second part of my order?" he said suddenly.

A flick of Koko's wrist made Lutz step away from his silent vigil to go to the official, bringing up the metal suitcase that barely made it through the embassy security. He unclipped the latches and opened it, presenting the contents to the man. The Colonel's eyes brightened at the sight, reaching inside without hesitation to withdraw the object held securely in supporting foam padding. He backed away to give the officer room to examine his new toy.

A fresh smile was on the man's face while he adjusted his grip, looking over the sizable submachine gun appreciably. Unfolding the plastic stock, he fitted the weapon to his shoulder to look down the sights, pointed away from either of his guests. Neither of them would've appreciated having a gun aimed at them, even knowing that it was unloaded. It was lacking a magazine in any case.

"Heckler and Koch UMP" Colonel Salah murmured happily, glancing at the woman "This variant is chambered in 45. ACP, correct?"

"That's right" Koko confirmed. He lowered the weapon, needing a second to find out how to release the clip holding the stock out, then folding it in to the side.

"I had the chance to try out several weapons of this type. Many of my fellow officers were favoring the type called a P90, but this weapon won the day" he explained, pleased with himself while he returned the empty gun to Lutz. Silently he placed the weapon back in position and re-latched the suitcase.

"There's an extra two cargo containers attached to your shipment containing these. One thousand units, requisite equipment to tend to the weapons, translated manuals, and around a million rounds of ammunition. And a direct line to H&K for any service questions. You're lucky, they were about to discontinue the production line" she outlined. The Colonel's smile lowered when he saw the faint displeasure on the woman's expression.

"Is something wrong Miss Hekmatyr?" Colonel Salah asked carefully.

"A year ago, submachine guns were generally purchased for one of two roles, either as backup weapons for vehicle crews or for special operations soldiers. These days, I can make a reasonable assumption to why your military wants these firearms" she said coolly.

"If you're referring to Witches, then I admit you are correct. Many of these weapons are already in service for our special forces, but it was decided that we needed guns like these for widespread usage to prevent attacks" he explained, the flicker across her features not going unnoticed.

"Have you had any Otherworlder attacks in your country?" Koko questioned.

"None as of yet, but a military officer that dealt with the recent event in Tel Aviv visited to inform us of what to expect. Weapons with a high rate of fire but low penetration are highly recommended" he explained, noting a hint of unease on the still smiling woman.

"So say others that have dealt with attacks in their own countries" Koko sighed "I don't like doing this, but this time I have to. Colonel, you overpaid for these weapons."

Colonel Salah blinked in surprise, blurting out an undignified "Really?" while Lutz snapped his head to her in alarm.

"Sadly yes. I don't make a habit of divulging this sort of information, but eight of the past ten deals I've done had a shipment of small arms attached, even when there was no real purpose to them being there. The last one was particularly egregious, since it was a shipment of missiles" she explained, unmindful of the two men's looks.

The officer frowned. "Forgive me, but I don't understand."

"So far, officials such as the one you spoke to reached the same conclusion that the GSG-9 unit in Hamburg and the SWAT team in Seattle did. The same line really, weapons with a high rate of fire with lowered penetration power are highly effective against Otherworlders, since with two known exceptions they appear in confined urban areas. Halfway around the world and it was almost word for word" she outlined.

"You mean Witches" he prompted.

"I mean Otherworlders" she corrected "Those who don't have their heads in the sand at this point are taking notice of these attacks, and instead of looking for alternatives they're simply buying submachine guns en masse. Its simple economics, demand is far exceeding supply. Even with the production ramp up, its not going to improve for quite some time" she explained.

His brow furrowed. "So because there are so many customers..."

"They can and will charge far more. I did all that I could, but the per-unit cost for these UMPs is at least thirty percent higher than it would've been a year ago. The ammunition issue is far less pronounced since 45. caliber is significantly easier to obtain in bulk than the specialized munitions its competitors use, the P90 you mentioned for example. Even so, the cost in this order is roughly ten percent greater than normal" Koko said as simply as she could, knowing the actual topic was far more complicated than her basic explanation. She wanted to make a point, not educate him on the economics of the arms trade. Colonel Salah nodded unhappily.

"Its not all doom and gloom however" she added, making him pick up.

"As I said, most are not looking at the various alternatives. For starters, the venerable shotgun" she began. He frowned.

"Shotguns are unprofessional. And they typically have much less range than standard weapons" he countered.

"Unprofessional does not mean ineffective. For the range issues you're half right, but in a confined area the difference is negligible at best. In truth, they can actually outshine submachine guns. The wider spread can be lethal to agile targets, and can work against the rare cases of multiple Otherworlders" she answered.

"Are there other options?" he asked.

"Carbine type rifles are your best option, the American M4 or the French FAMAS for example. The downsides are a decrease in lethality compared to a standard battle rifles, as well as an increased risk of collateral damage. On the upside, their mechanisms are derived from standard rifles, making training far simpler and easing logistics. In the event of an armored Otherwolrder, you are going to appreciate the increased firepower" she answered.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I will take your options under recommendation."

"Excellent" Koko paused to look at her watch "My apologies, but I must be going."

Colonel Salah rose from his chair at the same time as she did, extending a hand.

"Again, thank you for your services Miss Hekmatyr" he said cordially.

"The pleasure was all mine" she replied in kind.

He gave Lutz one last polite nod before thumbing an intercom. Her bodyguard fetched the thin coat she brought along to hand it over, waiting on her to garb properly prior to going for the now unlocked door. He followed her out the door, past an embassy aide who wordlessly escorted them away from the meeting room. What occurred inside may have saved his nation or damned it, time alone would tell. Until it deigned to explain to a lowly individual such as him, the aide did his job.

For the walk through the building, Koko smiled, as she always did. Smile, so what she felt underneath wasn't visible.

Once they were close to the lobby, Lutz quietly spoke up "What was that?"

"An expression of my inner frustration" she answered evenly.

"Telling a client they overpaid? Not a good move" he commented lowly.

"So that man can start to think, unlike the rest of the idiots that are springing up lately" she replied. Lutz held in his reply when they entered the waiting lobby proper, since arguing with the boss in front of the rest of the men was a worse move than her choice. In any case, it was over and done with.

The first guest in the area to see the two arriving was a thin chinese man by the name of Mao. Picking up, the former artilleryman's move spread to the others, who each stopped what they were doing to look her way. Ugo, the main wheelman, looked up from a magazine. Tojo, the bespectacled japanese intelligence officer, closed his laptop to stuff it back in his carry bag. Valmet, the one eyed Finn and her lover, stood up and cracked her neck with a small smile. Wiley, the large yet friendly explosives expert, turned away from a television playing a local channel. R, a former bersaglieri (whom she still kept his secret), pushed his phone back in his pants pocket while he stood up. Lehm, retired Delta and her longtime friend, rose from his seat with a muted groan.

The last to get up from his chair was referred to by the moniker of boy, though nowadays he was in the teenager category. Brown skinned with white hair and red eyes, he wore a pair of khaki pants and a thick hoodie suited for the weather outside. His face, which tended to draw the eyes of females everywhere they went, was blank at the moment, as usual. As Koko watched, he finished placing his hands into the hoodies pocket. She had no doubt that the phone she bought him a while ago was in there was well, put out of sight when he sensed the others moving. Jonathan 'Jonah' Mar was someone that kept his thoughts to himself, and today was no exception.

"So, how'd it go?" Lehm asked, starting to go for his pocket but stopping himself. She knew what he was after; his ever present cigarettes and lighter, a nicotine habit which he had tried to break once in recent memory.

"Swimmingly, even with the small arms everyone wants these days" Koko answered dryly, slowing her walk but not stopping. Around her the others started to form a perimeter, a barrier between the woman and the endless threats of the world.

"That's good. Can't help wondering how old man Curry is doing though" Valmet commented.

"Probably still fuming that he got bought out" Tojo offered. Koko snickered, remembering the British arms dealer's face when he discovered she had purchased enough of his company's stock to effectively overrule anything he did. Such as protesting the acquisition of Curry's Company Aerial Transport by HCLI, then voting to retire the founder and owner, albeit with a sizable bonus; in the end she couldn't muster up enough cruelty to leave him with nothing.

A guard gave the group of ten a wary look, lasting until the last one was firmly out the door. She ignored him and the many others that watched, heading out of the warm building into the chilly late winter weather hanging on Ankara. Crossing the small property that was officially another nation, the party moved from one country's jurisdiction to another for their transportation.

The two SUVs they drove from Antalya twelve days ago were still exactly where they left them, parked by the curb in front of the embassy. Before Koko or any one of the HCLI employees could enter the vehicles however, there was a short procedure to do. Wiley and Ugo went to the first car, Mao and R went to the second. Along the way the large driver snatched a piece of paper out of the windshield wiper and grumbled an obscenity.

Koko stopped and waited for them to finish, feeling Valmet come close to her side. She was aware of Jonah's location, a few feet behind her. While his guarded eyes looked around for anything resembling a threat, he was feeling the phone in his pocket. He would wait until they were back in the hotel and off duty for the time being, then resume what he was doing in the lobby. A queasy feeling wormed its way into her gut, just like other time she ran the thought through her mind.

"Good" came the report from Wiley.

"Clear" Mao called.

The obligatory car bomb check completed, the lights of both SUVS flashed twice. Feeling a shiver coming on, Koko powered to the first car with everyone else following suit. Wiley opened the door for her when she approached, noting how Jonah was going to the other side. Valmet followed her in, creating a makeshift human cocoon with her in the center. Five people for one car, five for the other. She wasn't sure of the arrangement the second vehicle was going to have, only that Lehm was going to have a window seat.

Ugo started the SUV, put the reinforced tank that masqueraded as a civilian car in drive, an pulled away into the sparsely populated street. Behind him the second SUV followed, every one of the professional mercenaries having their eyes open. For the time being Koko wasn't worried much about an incident here, even after the recent wave of protests a mere handful of blocks away. It wasn't a concern at the moment.

What had her attention was Jonah beside her, who stared out the window to the cold day outside. The child soldier, who once murdered dozens of men in cold blood to avenge the pointless death of a friend, who had risked his life to save the life of his comrade, and had charged into a man made hell to stop a madman, was taciturn. Throughout all that he had been through, it was an aspect of his personality that had never changed.

"So, anyone hungry?" Koko asked to break the silence.

"I could go for some grub" Wiley agreed.

"What're thinking boss, takeout or something fancy?" Ugo asked. Valmet lit up, all but glowing.

"Hey, maybe we can find a good romantic place?" she suggested, hearing the bemused snorts of the two men. Months after coming out and she was still as sappy about her relationship as ever, which rarely failed to crack the rest of the men up.

Koko swiveled her eyes to the teen, seeing him continuing to stare out the window. "What about you? Anything in particular you're leaning to?"

"Whatever you want" was his simplistic answer.

"Oh c'mon, don't you have any preferences?" she pressed.

"No."

Ugo chuckled "Not picky, that's for sure."

Koko outwardly shared the sentiment the three others had, but her mirth was only skin deep. She knew better than trying to cajole him into something like that, but she made the effort regardless. It was better attempting to get him to open up than to leave him on his own, lost in his own thoughts. Once she could only guess what he was actually feeling, though she could read him well enough after a time. Now, she knew what he felt as well as he did.

Regret, and grief.

Jonah put on a solid act; after a week he resumed his normal duty. After a month he stopped crying himself to sleep. He could act like his old self again, for a time forgetting his broken heart (at least she hoped so). Strangely, the unemotional state he held himself in as a longtime habit helped him more than anything. The boy was no stranger to burying his emotions, the only real thing that changed afterwards was the type added to the list. But she knew the wounds were still there. Still just as real as the scars doting his body, such as the patch of torn up flesh on his torso.

The common saying went "Time heals all wounds." Koko's experiences made her add the line "The scars are forever." He was better now; in time he could start to look at other women again, perhaps finding a sweet girl whom he could love, like he did for her. Not now, not for a while yet.

"So, local place or do you want to find a chain?" Wiley said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I'm thinking a local place. Someone want to ring up the others?" Koko asked. Valmet had her phone out, doubtlessly hoping to get an evening alone with her. After five days and five deals, her daily romance needs were lacking.

Jonah didn't look away from the window, even while the two cars debated on where or what to eat. Koko had the assumption that he would be alright with anything they decided, which turned out to be a buffet in downtown. He abstained on the vote, even though he would likely eat the most out of the group. Simply devour his food, clean himself up from the light day's exertions, then go back to his phone.

Not for the first time Koko briefly entertained the notion of sneaking away his phone, and not for the first time she shot the idea down. The two dozen pictures saved there were only one copy, there were several backups stashed around her various data catches, but he could take them traveling with him far easier than other means. He would know who deleted the pictures, and the approval she worked so hard to obtain from him would evaporate.

While they drove into sight of the hotel she used as headquarters for the consecutive rounds of deals made this week, she went over the same thought. He would adjust in his own time, attempting to rush it would only make things worse. Patience was the key. She couldn't help feeling frustrated at him however, how he stubbornly refused to let her go. He didn't speak of her to anyone, but it was clear she never entirely left his mind.

The nice hotel (expensive, but she didn't want to skimp for the busy week ahead of her) was tall and imposing, hiding its accommodating nature. Tomorrow they would check out and move on, unlikely to ever return. From there, they would go to South Africa for a regular meeting with her old friend, then onto the next item on her calendar. In layman's terms, the usual schedule of her tumultuous life.

While they pulled into the parking garage, Valmet spoke up "So what do you think of tonight's outing?"

"Sure. We'll just have to invite Jonah along" Koko needled, snickering at her crestfallen expression with Ugo and Wiley. Outside, the bland overcast sky was suddenly replaced by the murky light of the parking structure built alongside the hotel. Rows of cars were visible on all sides, none of them quite like the twin SUVs.

"But-" Valmet whimpered, attempting a puppy dog look.

"Could have Jonah get his own table" Wiley suggested half seriously, seeing Ugo cover his mouth to hide his giggle.

"That sounds like a great idea. What do you think?" Koko asked.

"Don't care" he answered.

"Really? How many men would love to have dinner with two beautiful women?" she jabbed.

"Its your date" he replied, his voice unchanging. She sighed dramatically.

"Isn't this a bummer. I guess its TV dinners tonight, since mister party pooper doesn't like- ** _GAH_**!"

Ugo slammed on the brakes, making the entire vehicle lurch. Wiley was already twisting his body around, alert for danger. Jonah moved up to cover her, lightning fast. Valmet had her hands on the pale woman while she huddled over, suddenly gasping. The cheer within the car was gone, like it had never been. Visible in the rear view mirror, the second SUV stopped as well, the doors swinging open for the now armed men to pour out.

Koko gulped in air, unable to get more than a shallow breath. A slight tremble was in her form, focusing intently on her right arm.

"What is is?" Valmet softly asked, not quite a whisper.

Slowly Koko rose back up, clutching her arm and clearly shaken.

"The shock" she said hoarsely. Five eyes all but bulged out of their sockets, while two narrowed a minute degree.

A tap from the window made them jump, flipping to it dangerously. Lehm was outside, looking decidedly grim with his Magpul Masada in hand. A circular motion with his finger made Valmet fumble for a moment before rolling down the window.

"What's going on?" he questioned dryly.

"There's one of them in the building" Jonah answered for them. Lehm sighed, taking a moment to rub the bridge of his nose.

"An Otherworlder?" he asked simply. Koko shakily nodded, putting herself back together.

"This shock was pretty bad. I'm guessing its close, within two hundred meters" she said crisply, underplaying the feeling that was a legacy of her curiosity long ago.

"Alright, we'll take care it before it gets someone. Wiley, you're with me. All of you stay in this car" he firmly ordered before turning away, hearing the passenger door swing open then shut in quick succession.

Mao stood by the car with his rifle in hand, watching Lehm and Wiley jog back over. "What's going on?"

"Witch, within two hundred meters" Lehm answered, seeing the four other men react with concealed surprise. Behind him Wiley opened the back of the first SUV to fetch his own rifle.

"Oh damn" Lutz muttered.

"Damn indeed. Mao, R, you guys are coming with Wiley and me. Lutz, stay put, guard the cars" he commanded.

"On it" they chorused. Wiley slammed the door shut and went to the older man's side, weapon at the ready and a radio headset offered for him. An extra three magazines were stuffed in his pockets, a reasonable precaution these days.

When the two men had their weapons and ammo at the ready, Lehm nodded. "Let's do this slow and careful, I'd hate to lose any of you to something silly like an extra-dimensional killing machine."

"Not a chance. If a schoolteacher in China can take one out by herself, there's no way in hell we're gonna screw up" R boasted, slapping a magazine into place.

"Yeah, but she was paraplegic afterwards remember?" Mao reminded, adjusting his radio.

"Enough. You two head that way, Wiley and I are going this direction. Go very slow, and keep in contact. If you spot it, don't engage unless you have to. Now, move" Lehm ordered.

Taking off in a light jog, the leader kept his eyes wide open on the space in front of him. His ears, which had heard more gunfire than could be safely counted, were straining to listen for any of the telltale clues a berserker tended to make. He knew better than anyone just how quick and agile the little monsters were, how much faster they could react compared to a human. And the end result was almost always death. Gripping the gun tighter, Lehm was determined to not die today.

Taking cover behind a support pillar with the large man behind him, he tapped his headset. "Come in."

"Nothing in sight" Mao's staticky voice told him.

"Alright, you two head down one level, it might be inside a maintenance tunnel. We're going up" Lehm said.

"Rodger, be safe" he replied before clicking it off from his end.

"Ready?" Wiley asked tersely.

Lehm nodded, taking a short breath. He moved away from the pillar with his Magpul held up, sweeping it around. Internally he was hoping there wasn't a civilian in the area, unknowingly risking his life between the mercenaries and a creature who killed for no discernible reason. Mentally he recounted the various incidents that occurred over the past six months, since Thailand went public with a secret he and the men knew well beforehand. A short list of cities off the top of his head, along with a body count. Lyons, one. Seattle, sixteen. Mexico city, seven. New Delhi, twenty seven. Kabul, three. St. Petersburg, fifteen. Kyoto, nineteen. He counted to himself, adding a new marker and a goal: Ankara, zero.

Lehm sensed rather than heard the movement. Pausing before the driveway to the second, he noted Wiley pausing behind him. He stood stock still, unmoving except for his breathing. Desperately he searched, feeling the presence of someone close by. Unlike Koko's apparently mystical ability to feel portal openings nearby, he had his decades of experience to rely on. Those hard won instincts were telling him there was something dangerous close by.

"What is it?" Wiley whispered, loud in the silence. Lehm could only slightly shake his head.

The old man waited, alert for the first sign of danger coming from the path in front of him. He realized it was upon them a second too late.

A mass of solid black swooped down behind Wiley, causing him to sweep around. A swing of a long limb, a leg, impacted him on the temple. A muted cry left him as he dropped, the rifle tumbling from his limp grasp. Lehm had time enough to line up his sights on the target before it charged him, inhumanly fast. He squeezed off one booming shot that hit the edge of the target as it bowled into him, feeling more like a speeding truck than a living creature.

Lehm's feet left the ground for half a second, making sure his landing was going to hurt much worse. All his breath left him when he hit the asphalt, the Otherworldler escaping his hurried grasp. Forcing himself back to awareness, he grabbed for the hidden SIG Pro sidearm he carried since morning to yank it out. He had the barrel pointed at the monster just as it created a weapon out of shimmering multicolored light. He blinked.

The Otherworlder in front of him had a black tinted sword out, held to the side in waiting. Evidently it recognized a gun for what it was, or perhaps it saw a similar tool in the hands of its own kind.

"You-"

This one was mid height, shorter than him but not by much. She had the usual pale skin Otherworlders tended to have, an unhealthy alabaster tone. Her sable hair was done up in twin pigtails that were quite long, though one was significantly shorter than the other. She had a pretty yet unsmiling face, unlike most of them there was no sadistic smile or demented expression.

"Have got-"

Her outfit consisted of several similar parts; black boots that went halfway up her calves, a pair of black hot pants with a loose white belt, a bikini top that didn't have much to hide underneath, also black. A large white lined black coat covered most of her, the two back flaps ending close to the ground. Without looking, he knew there was a white star in the center of the back. The hands, one still holding the black sword, were covered by a pair of gloves, black like everything else. A small choker was on her neck, a piece of glinting metal hanging off the front.

"-To be fucking kidding me."

The Otherworlder's blue gear inlaid eyes stared into his own, unresponsive to the words. No sign of recognition showed in her eyes.

"Either I'm having a fever dream, or you're her identical twin. Because there is no way you of all people are in front of me right now" Lehm snapped. The automatic response to pull the trigger was weakening by the second.

The Otherworlder tilted her head to the side a few degrees, staring blankly at him. It could understand him, but it did not comprehend the odd statement.

Her attention was focused on him, insuring she made the same mistake Lehm made. Two gunshots boomed, both of them nine millimeter pops. One hit the edge of her hip, tearing a chunk out of her leg and spraying some blood out, some of which splattered on him. The second punched through the coat to impact her torso, burying itself deep in the hard flesh. She jerked with both hits, her hard mask shattered in sudden pain. A silent cry left the girl's throat.

Lehm took the chance to fire twice himself, aiming carefully. His first hit the shoulder of the sword arm, causing it to fall. The second hit her other leg, completing the job of dropping her to the ground. Before she could recover he scrambled to his feet, struggling to make it over to her in time. The less injured leg threw a weak kick that off balanced him, but no more. The arm tried to form a new weapon, a cannon.

He made it over before it was more than half formed, curling his fist up and punching her in between the eyes as quickly as he could. Amazingly she was still conscious after the first blow, albeit dazed. A second punch solved the problem, leaving her out cold on the asphalt.

Rising up, Lehm sucked in a breath. As an afterthought he glanced over to Wiley, seeing him fumble for his glasses for a moment before putting them on. Just as Lehm did, he absorbed the sight of the unconscious Otherworlder, letting his jaw drop.

"Is...is that..." he was unable to finish the sentence.

"God I hope not. Because she has a lot of explaining to do" Lehm answered dryly.

"But...what do we do?" Wiley asked suddenly. Faint stomps on the ground reached them, he guessed it was Mao and R jogging to them after hearing the gunshots. Mentally he berated himself for not reporting in the potential threat.

"No dinner tonight. We're hauling ass back to Antalya, getting the hell out of Turkey as fast as possible. On the bright side, Jonah is going to be one happy fool" Lehm answered, giving the bleeding girl another uncertain look.

He knew the name of this one, recalled the last time he saw her. A burning field in southern Thailand, finally shedding the murderous form just to be rudely torn away from them all. Lehm could already feel a headache forming just at the thought of the trouble she was going to cause them.

The type of trouble only Black Rock Shooter could make.

* * *

 **A/N: #Shes'sBack**

 ** _R_ e _d_ e _mp_ tio _n_ i _s_ _h_ e _r_ e.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Talk about a cold open. Oh, right. Hi folks, its your good old bast-I mean- friend How-Not-To-Do-Something, here for part four of the Lost in Transition trilogy. I'm betting a lot of you were mad as hell about the ending of The Coming Dawn (if you're new here I suggest you stop here and go read Lost in Transition, In a Faraway Land, and The Coming Dawn in that order). Yeah, it wasn't a good call, but it's done and over with. More to the point, there's a fourth story to set things right. You can probably guess how this will all play out, I'm little if not predictable after all. But who cares? Let the show commence!**

 **I hereby present "You Came Back" a Jormungand/Black Rock Shooter crossover.**

xxx

A groan; a reflexive noise made by the woman, done with little active choice. No coherent thought was in her mind at present, nothing past the never ending stream of input that her senses duly recorded. As she slowly cudgeled her brain back into working order, the incomprehensible sounds began to take shape, gaining words and concepts associated with sentience.

Fifteen seconds after being abruptly woken up, the woman realized the annoying sound she was hearing was a constant beeping. Flicking one heavy eyelid open, her bleary vision noticed the laptop computer she left open (the night before?) was on. Blinking, her sight came into focus. Spots clouded her vision in response to the light, giving her an unwelcome indicator of how much sleep she had gotten. The text in the center of the screen said 'Incoming message."

Hesitantly the woman reached out with her heavy arm, leaving the uncomfortable cot to go to the computer. Before she clicked "Accept" she made sure the widget on top of the screen was off first. Confirming the webcam was deactivated, she tapped the requisite icon.

"Mornin luv" greeted a voice that was quintessentially British, coming out of the speakers. The woman groaned once again, mumbling curses under her breath.

At that specific moment, she didn't want to talk to anyone, least of all the British man she knew well. She wanted to lie back down and sleep for the next ten to fifteen hours. But just as much as she disliked him, she knew the man well. He rarely called simply to gossip, there was almost always juicy tidbit of information she could use. As much as she didn't want to engage in conversation, she knew she had to. Rising from her cot, the woman moved herself into a sitting position, absently brushing a strand of hair out of the way.

"Morning Nigel" she greeted in a slightly exaggerated exhausted tone. Only slightly.

"Oh my, you sound tired" he insightfully noted.

"I've had" she squinted at the tiny clock in the corner of the screen "Five hours of sleep in the past three days."

"Too much partying luv" he jokingly lectured. She scowled at the screen, uncaring that he couldn't see her. Normally she was definitely someone to look at, but at the moment she appeared ragged and disheveled.

"Whatever. What do you want?" she groaned,

"Nothing grand, just a hot off the press intel report" he said wistfully.

"If its another kill list I will punch you in the dick" she threatened the agent.

"Oh please. If this was a hit list MI6 wouldn't be calling you this quick" he brushed off. Unfortunately he knew her threat was quite real, and all but relished the thought. It was hard to threaten a person with something they liked.

"Fine, what is it?" she pressed.

"The little personal matter you've paid me to keep my eye on" he alluded. Instantly she picked up.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"Your little obsession made a rather unusual move earlier. Want the details?" he cheekily asked.

"Cut the bullshit Nigel" she snapped.

He huffed "Fine, ruin the suspense. Hekmatyr was supposed to be leaving Turkey later today. Instead she left Antalya about twelve hours ago, in a real hurry it seems."

"Why?" she asked, puzzled.

"Here's the interesting bit. She left with an extra person from what she arrived with two weeks ago. The port official believed she was a Witch."

The computer beeped again, showing a new email. Now interested far beyond what would be considered normal, she quickly clicked on it to wait anxiously for the set of images to load.

"I might be mistaken, but that Witch looks familiar" he added. The woman stared intently at the grainy picture, the low quality and terribly situated photo not enough to obscure the form of the girl being manhandled by two bulky men out of a SUV.

"Yeah. The thing's name is Black Rock Shooter" she answered.

"Just what I and some of the bigwigs around here were afraid of. After the mess in Roanapur MI6 decided if she was to reappear we would have to dispatch her at once. Don't want to repeat what happened there, and I don't think you Yanks would appreciate taking the fall for another nuke" Nigel said, his tone witty yet possessing a hard edge.

"Let me guess, don't have the mandate" she said dryly.

"Well that too, but most of our operators are knee deep in shite all over the place these days. I swear, there is a new radical group every other day" he asked rhetorically.

"Ask the CIA" she said, staring intently at the picture.

"I was actually thinking of putting a request in to the NSA" he said.

The woman was silent. Somehow it was worse than the threats.

"Bloody hell, I was kidding" he said defensively.

"For your sake I hope so" she said darkly.

"Christ, you can be scary. So, how does this affect your 'Kill-the-fuck-out-of-Hekmatyr' plan?" he asked.

"Thanks to Operation Undershaft she's virtually untouchable, so I'll need to accelerate my schedule. Hmm, have the two Otherworlders in Latvia been relocated yet?" she asked.

"To my knowledge no. Not sure why the Yanks haven't moved them yet, although...you just reminded me of something actually. The NSA is going to retrieve the pair in a week or so, get them away from the Neo-Soviets or any of the new extremist groups that are popping up like weeds lately" Nigel told her. She cracked a smile.

"Three birds with one stone. What're the odds" she murmured happily.

"I know that tone of voice. You're going to cause an international incident, and you want my help. Well count me out of it this time, I don't need another mark on my record" he declared.

Instead of answering the woman reached over to the webcam, flicking on the light first then turning it on. To the camera, she showed what she was wearing, or lack thereof. Approximately five hours earlier she stumbled into her room after returning to the heavily classified complex, taking just enough time to peel of her filthy fatigues. What this meant was her bare chest, a quite stunning one in truth, was shown to the British man for roughly three seconds before she clicked it off. Thirty seconds went by while she waited, hearing tiny squeaks and hisses through the connection.

"...bloody hell..." Nigel whispered in awe.

"You need a girlfriend" she said dryly.

"And you need a hobby besides killing terrorists" he refuted far quicker than she expected.

"I've only killed twenty two" she replied.

"This month? This week? Or since you woke up?" he questioned.

"Will you get me what I need?" she questioned back.

"I'm going to venture fake IDs, layout of the outpost, and the NSA man's schedule" Nigel questioned.

"Yes to all three. Might need some additional muscle too, none of your people though. Someone expendable" she answered.

"You mean no MI6 or British?" he asked.

"MI6. Whatever happened to that one PMC group? Excalibur I think. They had a high recommendation" she mused.

"Went under after most of their men were killed in Iraq, just before the American withdrawal actually. There are a few other groups on the set these days, know this one called the Wild Geese" he answered.

"Heard of them. They're a no go, too pricy" she replied.

"Figured you'd say that. In all honesty though, and pardon me for prying into your business" Nigel's voice shifted away from the beady tone she knew so well. To her own amazement, he sounded concerned.

"What?" she preempted.

"Are you sure its a good idea to get Witches into your group? I know your kill-boner gets hard every time I bring her up, but Hekmatyr is the only one thus far who's had any luck in recruiting those things" he said. He was right; the moment her name came up the woman scowled.

"I know what I'm doing. Those things aren't human, but they're not eldritch monsters. Its like training dogs" she replied coldly.

"Dogs with swords and murderlust worse than yours. I can't talk you out of this, and I know if I went to your boss you'll castrate me. I'm just saying, are you sure about this" Nigel pressed.

The woman, who wore an insult as her name, smiled dangerously. If the agent saw the feral grin, he would instantly go flaccid in terror.

"One caught me off guard. It won't happen again. Bye Nigel, have fun with the screenshot" Hex said before severing the connection.

xxx

 _Jonah coughed, dim and hollow. Supporting himself off the dust stricken ground, he gasped for breath just like every other time. Underneath the dust and the detritus, he could see the marble floor of what was possibly once a building. A checkerboard pattern of white and black, stretching away on the ground to cover the walls. The pattern was hardly uniform, with cracks spread everywhere in sight. Damage and general neglect was the story the walls silently told him. In front of him was a large open space the size of a baseball stadium, surrounded by all sides by unidentifiable wreckage of a long dead civilization, akin to how he imagined the world would look like if nuclear bombs ever fell._

 _It was not empty in the center. What sat there recognizable, odd from his point of view but it was not broken metal like everything else. The twisted spines and multitudes of protrusions didn't disguise what it was, nor did the great state of disrepair it found itself in. A cannon, bigger than the 122mm behemoths he once witnessed, almost the size of the plane that transported the guns back then. Whatever it once did, it couldn't do it now. Hadn't been able to do it for a long time._

 _Jonah knew what was going to happen. He knew he was going to stand up on shaky legs, his body in awe at the incredible sight. Turning around, he knew he was going to find with uneasy relief the black sphere that engulfed him just as he was preparing to leave the bathroom. Then coming back around to the cannon, wondering who built the thing, when, and for how long it had been sitting there, rusting away. He didn't know, it wasn't relevant then and it wasn't relevant now._

 _When a single figure rose from the top of the cannon, his breath caught in his throat. Back then it was alarm at an unknown individual in a place like this, now it was belated recognition. He wanted to cry out her name, wanted to climb up the rickety machine to meet her, uncaring of the danger it posed. When she turned her cold blue eyes to him, he wanted to smile with joy long forgotten. But he couldn't._

 _He would take a step back, internally crying out in horror at being unable to change things. She would jump from the top, nimbly dodging down the long dead machine. To him. Her expression was the same as every other time he had this dream, always the same. Cold. Unfeeling. No glimmer of recognition, no hint of happiness, not even the faintest sliver of joy. She didn't know who he was, and in here, it was vice versa._

 _He turned to run, desperately trying to wretch his body around. She would give chase, running him down quickly. Jonah ran to the only thing that could save him, screaming for her to stop. He jumped through the portal-_

Jonah gasped, awake instantly. The gun which was always within arms reach these days was in his hand at once, while he intently scanned for threats. Slowly he relaxed, berating himself for overreacting like every other time he had the dream. Letting his head fall back, he looked to the ceiling, wondering for the hundredth time what he was going to do. After digging out his phone for the helpful clock, he got his answer.

Taking a second to account for his surroundings first, he flipped the blanket he appropriated the night before aside to stand up. The common room aboard the Atlas was empty for the moment, which was part of the reason he slept there the night before instead of his own room. He stretched his arms and legs, sore from the mildly uncomfortable couch he rested on. The thought of going to a proper bed when he could have was dismissed as quickly as it appeared.

After returning his Browning (his SIG was never returned, and he didn't bother to acquire a new one) to his holster, Jonah left the room, quicker than he meant to. Swinging the door open, he powered outside to the overcast day outside. The sight of the muted blue of the Mediterranean Sea once caught his eye every time for its majesty, but he long ago ceased to be interested. With the current circumstances, this went doubly.

He had one goal; Koko delayed him hours ago, but nothing was stopping him now. The infirmary was a short walk away from the common room, roughly a third of the distance as his own room. He powered along, ignoring his empty stomach and bleary eyes. Throwing open the outside door, he moved back inside into the hallway. Once he came in sight of the medical room however he paused, unconsciously feeling a flash of anger at the woman for her foresight. The bespectacled man leaning beside the door spotted him at the same time, cracking a wry grin.

"What's got you in such a hurry?" Tojo asked, completely at ease with a holster strapped MP7 by his side. Jonah approached the door anyway, narrowing his eyes.

"I need in there" he replied. He knew he was at most ten feet away from her, close enough to practically touch. The intelligence officer shook his head.

"That's a no go bud. Bosses direct orders were, and I quote, 'keep Jonah out of there.' Last I checked, this means you" he denied. Mentally Jonah assessed his chances of bringing him down; the odds were not in his favor, but he considered it anyway. Tojo sighed.

"Look, I know how you're feeling. But she hurt Wiley, came this close to killing Lehm. There's something wrong with her, and even if Koko didn't say anything I'd be keeping you away. For your safety" he explained.

"I can handle myself" Jonah replied coldly.

"I know you can. If it were anyone else in there I'd believe you" he said flatly.

The door behind the two swung open, causing both to look around. Two new arrivals were entering, the first glancing over them with little surprise.

"It took you this long huh?" Koko commented. Behind her Valmet walked inside, her Magpul Masada held in her arms.

"Twelve hours. Lutz owes me a beer" Tojo said, picking himself off the wall. A questioning look to the pale woman made her slightly nod, which he answered in kind. Both of the woman leaned themselves against the wall, allowing him to leave mostly unimpeded.

"Good thing you're here, means I don't have to send someone for you" Koko told Jonah while she approached.

"Are you okay?" Valmet asked him.

"I'm fine" he answered in a clipped tone, impatience showing through. The pale woman's cerulean eyes bored into him.

"Before you go into this room, I'm going to lay down some ground rules. Are you listening?" she asked, though it wasn't a question. He nodded.

"I don't know what happened back there. But according to Lehm, she didn't seem to recognize either of them. Now, this may have been a mistake, either on their end or hers. But just in case, you need to be prepared" she said, dropping her smile entirely.

"For?"

"For the possibility that this isn't Rock. Yes" she raised a hand to forestall an argument "I'm aware. Black sword, the outfit, mute, I know. But just in case."

"Its her" he insisted.

"Maybe" she conceded "You know better than I do she didn't die back then. It's some pretty long odds, but she could've ended up here, just the right place and the right time to bump into us. But still."

"Honestly, if I was in her place I wouldn't let you in right now. But I also know I wouldn't be able to stop you" Valmet added.

"Exactly. No matter what, I want you to give her some space. Even if this was one big misunderstanding, she's going to be shaken up. Can you do that at least?" Koko questioned.

"I will" Jonah answered.

"Good. I know this is hard on you, but be careful" she finished.

Sighing under her breath, Koko steeled herself for what lay ahead. She had been delaying this moment for as long as possible, knowing in even the best case scenario things would get messy. It was a secret ability of the girl to attract trouble, and she willingly brought her aboard the ship, ergo back into their lives. The thought of leaving her behind, alive or dead, didn't make it passed the flight of fancy stage.

Sucking in a breath, she unlocked the door and powered inside, her two bodyguards and friends on her heels.

The room was exactly the same as always; white walls, a tiled floor, wooden linings, and a lingering scent of blood which no quantity of cleaners could ever entirely remove. Knowing this room had saved numerous lives failed to mask the uncomfortable tingle in her spine whenever she entered, and she idly wondered how they felt about it. The room had one significant detail to make this a special day, however it would turn out.

On the thinly padded hospital bed, a single occupant rested with a slight movement of her chest to show she was breathing. Metal handcuffs on her ankles and wrists kept her still form from going anywhere, just as she did before. Back then it was a precaution because of what little she knew about the girl, now it was for her own safety. Her coat was hung on a peg on the wall, virtually identical to before. The rest of the pale girl's outfit was the same down to her boots, though Koko noticed with interest the small choker around her neck. The glint of a metal pendant enticed her to examine it, but for the time being she suppressed the feeling.

Physically she was mostly alike from what she remembered. She was taller by several inches, but without grabbing some measuring tape she couldn't tell how much. Her body was more filled in; her chest was slightly more expansive (though still nothing to get worked up over) and she had the beginnings of curves to show on her thin frame, leaving her gaunt appearance far behind. Her twin pigtails were still about the same length, perhaps longer by a few inches. She wasn't entirely sure, but the changes were consistent with roughly six months worth of age.

Out of curiosity Koko glanced at the two by her flanks. Valmet was what she expected, being warily interested in the girl. Jonah on the other hand was staring at her, making no attempt to pretend his attention was elsewhere. While his expression was still reserved, she saw a glimmer in his eyes. She had almost forgotten what the look meant, it had been so long since she'd seen it last. The shine of hope in his eyes should have made her happy, but instead it disquieted her.

Turning back to the girl, Koko waited for her to wake up. She just started to consider gently nudge her when the unconscious girl's eyes opened.

It was fast; one moment she was out cold, the next she was awake. The change was quite rapid, if she looked just two seconds later than she would have missed it. Rock's different (once, unique) blue eyes were opened to the white fluorescent lights above, the piercing azure color with a darker gear pattern within her irises taking in everything. For the second, that was only the plain tiled ceiling with a couple of lights to break the monotony. Then her gaze flickered to the side, where the three humans stood watching her.

Immediately she thrashed, rattling all four of the handcuffs. Koko and Valmet jerked back in surprise, the latter swinging the Magpul Masada around before checking herself. The boy didn't move on his own, if Koko hadn't grabbed his shoulder to yank him back a step he quite possibly would have gotten closer. The girl continued to struggle fruitlessly for several more seconds, trying in vain to get away.

Koko waited until she stopped to make her own move, observing warily how she flopped down limply, her eyes locked on all three. The shine in her peculiar orbs told her the exact opposite of what she wanted to know. Straightening up her stance, she approached the bed once more. Behind her Valmet grabbed Jonah's shoulder to stop him from joining her. They went over the plan well before either made their way to this room; dealing with him was one of the top priorities.

"Hi there" Koko cautiously greeted, mindful of how her cold gaze was boring into her. As to be expected, she said nothing in response.

"Okay. I made a dozen plans for this, time to find out which one to use" she paused to take a steadying breath "Nod for yes, shake for no, understand?" she asked, which the girl nodded to.

"Do you know who I or these two are?" Her gaze never changed its alignment, continuing to stare at the woman without any visible emotion.

Slowly, Black Rock Shooter moved her face from side to side.

Koko took another breath, mouthing a silent "Damn" under her breath. She couldn't see behind her, but the expressions on her companions faces were easy to guess. Especially the look of stunned shock on the boy's, not the answer he wanted. What none of them wanted to hear. Nevertheless she moved on, the old axiom "Hope for the best, plan for the worst" in full effect. There was little else she could do.

"This is a problem. I'm sure you're wondering what I mean" she posed to the girl, which was met by a short nod.

"You see, you don't know who I am, but I know who you are" she went on. No movement from her this time, but the look in her eyes shifted to conserved interest.

"Your name is Black Rock Shooter. You can't talk, something about being in this world makes your voice nonfunctional. Your physical abilities are far above most humans, from speed to strength to healing. I had enough sedatives in you to put a full grown man to sleep and you were shot four times, yet twelve hours later you're good as new. You have four weapons you can make out of flashing lights: a handheld cannon that shoots blue bolts of light, a large chain gun bigger than you, and twin swords. Ones silver, the others black."

Koko paused to take a breath, noting the hints of curiosity in the girl's gaze. She decided to go for the trump card.

"You have an ex-girlfriend, named Dead Master." Immediately Rock snarled, her expression twisting into rage. She thrashed against her restraints again for a moment, showing a great deal of hostility. Koko waited until she calmed down again before getting to her point.

"Ask yourself, how did I know all that?" she questioned. Though still quite aggrieved, the girl couldn't help the confusion on her face.

Instead of answering Koko held an open hand over her shoulder. It took a few seconds longer than she would've preferred, but Jonah (quietly prodded by Valmet) placed his phone in her grip. After unlocking the screen and going to pictures, she flipped it around to present the glowing surface to the girl. The first of the photos he kept close to his person every hour of every day was shown to her.

At first Rock's eyes narrowed in suspicion. The photo on the tiny screen showed herself staring blank faced into a camera, a little younger than what she was now. Keeping it in place, Koko swiped the screen to the next photo, this one showing the girl in an open field with Tojo and Wiley, looking bored while they were quite animated. Another swipe showed her with an astonished look as she beheld a pie. The next showed her plastered against a tiny window, excitedly looking out to a cloudy sky. And so on.

Her gaze softened, clearly becoming more dumbfounded by the second. Koko imagined she was seeing the impossible; one or two images could have been faked, but twenty three of them was not something to dismiss lightly. What she was showing her was a handful of pictures they managed to take over the tumultuous four months she was among them, a tiny view of the impact she had on their lives.

"This is you" Koko told her when she got to the last, which made the girl snap her gaze to the pale woman. Absently she held the phone back out for him to take again.

"A while ago, ten months to be exact, you stumbled out of a portal in the bathroom of a hotel I was staying in. I'm mostly sure you were after him" she inclined her head in the direction of the boy, causing her to look at him.

Koko held her breath; Jonah and Black Rock Shooter locked eyes, red human irises meeting blue inhuman ones. In his shone hope, longing, and more than a small amount of fear. In hers, there was only guarded curiosity. There was no glimmer of recognition, not for her, not for Valmet, and not for him. It truly dawned on her for how little of her old self she showed, including a stark lack of empathy. Her heart sank, and she sighed.

"There goes my last hope" she muttered. Rock broke eye contact with Jonah without a second of hesitation to give her a curious look.

"My first impulse is to say you have amnesia. It's definitely you, I had a sample of your blood taken while you were out to compare against what we had on record. There was plenty to test, God knows you lost enough back then. Its a ninety nine point nine seven match" she explained, observing first the dangerous look at the mention of taking blood then the blank countenance at the jargon.

"However, the fact that you both understand me and seem to know what a phone is makes me curious. You recognize objects consciously or subconsciously, but you don't recognize who we are. It's too precise. Something with you is fundamentally not right, what I'm hoping for is that it's reversible" she finished.

A gesture, seemingly errant, brought Valmet around. Without looking Koko held her hand out again, and this time a slivery key entered her palm. Rock's gaze stayed on her while she bent over her legs, unlatching the first of the cuffs. With the Finn at the ready she wasn't too worried about the girl in case she decided violence was the best option, but a sense of disgust filled the void at being unable to trust her.

Jonah watched seemingly impassively while she unlatched Rock's restraints one by one, while she turned her head to each cuff in turn. It only took several seconds to undo all of the metal links, helped by her cooperation. Another flick her hand made the boy reluctantly move away, giving the girl space to swing her legs around. Carefully she slid off the padded bed to place her boots on the tiled floor, testing her uncertain body.

"Can you walk?" Valmet asked, gently feeling the grip of her rifle. Rock nodded after a moment.

"Good, I want to show you something. Jonah" she directed. Quickly he strolled to the wall in order to retrieve her coat, returning to her side while she took a few experimental steps. When he held it out, she gave him a dry look before snatching it out of his offered hand. She took care to not let her gloved hand touch him at all.

Quietly uneasy, Koko went to the door, beckoning for Rock to follow. Jonah was almost on her back, but Valmet pushed him behind her (not entirely gently). He quietly protested, only stopping when their boss flung the door open to stroll out. Absently the boy wondered how she would react to the sight; she was awed by a sunrise, and Dead Master had her breath taken away when they were in the middle of the Pacific. However she was going to feel, he would find out in a moment.

The short hallway outside the infirmary led to the outside deck, giving a wonderful view of the Mediterranean Sea, albeit one that lacked the true gravitas it was well known for. Sliding discreetly beside Valmet, Jonah took a second to look over the view himself. To his disappointment, it wasn't a good one; the darkly overcast sky which stretched in every direction promised ill weather, likely snow. Because of the dim lighting, the normally sparkling blue water had a weak grey tone to it instead. While the shoreline in the far distance was eye catching, they were too far away to see anything more than a dark line covering the horizon. When he checked on Rock, a poorly timed breeze wafted by, making her visibly shiver and clutch her coat together. Altogether, she didn't look very impressed.

Jonah tried to think of anything he may have done to cause this spat of bad luck. A sigh from Koko informed him she felt the same way.

"Should have waited until we were closer to North Africa. Its still chilly there but its not nearly this bad" she said quietly, earning a sympathetic look from Valmet. Glancing to Rock, she found the girl's blank gaze upon her.

"Okay, long story short: I want you to work for me again. You may not believe me or any of us" she spared a look over the girl "But you were a member of my crew. What I'm hoping for is whatever it is that's blocking your memories can be undone. Want to give us a chance?" Koko stared into the girl's eyes, for once genuinely uncertain of what she would do.

After a moment of thought, Black Rock Shooter nodded.

Koko sighed, this time in relief. "That's good. Really good actually. Truth is, I didn't have a contingency plan in case you said no. Its not like you can live in the world anymore. Otherworlders are popping up pretty regularly."

Rock frowned. Glancing over her, Koko silently asked either Valmet and Jonah if they wanted to leave. The woman adjusting her grip and the boy moving around to get a clear line of sight on the girl was their reply.

"Last I heard the average is around one every five days. Most are just berserkers, show up and kill is their thing. A few are smart like you, and can be reasoned with. Not many people are giving new ones a chance, so they're shooting on sight. Its gotten pretty bad now, enough have shown up for authorities to figure out their tricks. I should warn you that your special bag of tricks won't be awing anyone anytime soon" Koko explained, making her nod.

"Good news is there's ten people here who are going to be with you every step of the way. Even if it means hunting down a portal and tossing you back through, if you choose to" she went on, unable to help the cringe at seeing Jonah sudden alarm. Rock mulled over the information, and in the end she shook her head once more.

"Good to hear. It'd be a pain to do that though, its not like I can conjure one out of-"

Koko suddenly stopped talking, her easygoing expression twisting up in alarm. Both Valmet and Jonah tensed up, the former darting over her side as she half collapsed. In the process she bumped into the girl, ignoring her flash of hostility. On the boy's part he drew his pistol and scanned his surroundings, discovering Lutz and R on the far end of the ship jogging over. All the while Rock looked around, confused at what was going on.

"Not again" Koko hissed. Valmet's lone eye went wide while she held on to her.

Jonah spotted it first, a tiny black dot situated just off the railing which he immediately felt a sense of revulsion for. It felt fundamentally _wrong_ , like reality itself was protesting the dot's existence. Rock saw the nascent portal and backed away, flashing lights forming into the recognizable cannon. Jonah took his eyes off the thing to check on her once it was finished, unintentionally doing a double take. Her primary weapon was unlike what he remembered, it was oddly smaller and more streamlined than before. When her back touched the all too close bulkhead, she lifted the cannon to train it on the growing dot.

R, Lutz, and a quietly cursing Tojo reached them just as it ballooned in scale, easily three times the size of a man. Jonah kept his Browning on the black surface of the sphere, idly aware of the men's armaments; Magpuls in Lutz's and R's hands, whilst Tojo had the same MP7 as earlier. If it were a standard Otherworlder, the deluge of firepower from the human guns alone would shred it instantly. He didn't think for a second it was one.

The dimly reflective surface spat out a single figure, her mere appearance causing every being in sight to quietly gasp. Rock especially, looking shocked at the sight of an individual who was a mirror of her save for two significant details; this ones colors were inverted from hers, brown skin instead of pale, white where it should have been black, and red where it was supposed to be blue.

Her countenance of bored contempt was the second detail, sweeping over all of the humans while she stood on the railings. A queasy lurch was felt in the guts of everyone present, the truly alien being tampering with one of the universes fundamental laws simply to make it easier to stay in place. She looked around until she spotted Rock, staring down the glowing cannon with zero concern.

"There you are" said White Rock Shooter.

xxx

 **A/N: I don't own Jormungand, Black Rock Shooter, or anything else you spot. It belongs to its proper owners, I'm just borrowing them to tell a tale. By the way, this should have been longer, but its been too long since I've posted anything.**

 **Credit for the cover photo goes to Admiral Fatass.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Trackplay: Grievance, by Audiomachine.**

"There you are."

The barrel of Rock's cannon began to glow dangerously, the hard expression on the girl almost unwavering. Jonah kept his pistol trained on the enigmatic monster, his finger itching to pull the trigger. He knew what would happen if he did; she carried a shield which could dismissively block gunfire or even missiles, leaving her at the worst annoyed. Yet he stayed in place, facing off against a being of unimaginable power.

It took a great deal of effort out of him to look away for only a second, even though he needed to know what the others were doing. R and Lutz had their Magpul Masadas at the ready, and behind them Tojo scrambled up with the MP7 from earlier still in his grip. Valmet had Koko covered while she stared at the girl perched on the railing from down her own Magpul's sights.

White Rock Shooter reacted to the overt hostility the same way she treated everything else.

"Petty fools" she muttered disdainfully, giving a curt shake of her head.

"The hell are you doing here?" R demanded, not letting the anger distract from his aim. Lutz and Tojo were in a similar state, to say nothing of Valmet. None of them held a candle to the sheer hatred Jonah freely displayed, finger curled just short of the Browning's trigger draw. Rock peeked his way, seeing immediately the total lack of fear in his form.

"Matters which are not your concern. Now step aside, so I may finish my task" she commanded of them, keeping upright on the topmost railing. A chilled wind blew, ruffling her white coat and ivory hair yet not affecting the girl herself.

"Go to hell, you're not taking her" Valmet snapped, absently using one arm to force Koko behind her body instead of allowing her to confront the girl directly like she knew she would.

"You mistake my intent. I'm not here to deport her again, since obviously it didn't work. I'm here to terminate her" she told them matter-of-factly, raising a greave covered hand to the girl. The deck of the ship seemed to resettle as she lifted the appendage, along with a brief flutter in the stomachs of the group that had little to do with the sea.

To five of the humans present, the flat answer was enough to make them stiffen in alarm. Only two of their number saw what she could really do with their own eyes, yet that was more than enough to frighten them. For the lone Otherworlder, the blank look she wore as her day to day expression was shattered by icy dread, the grip on her slim cannon tightening enough for the faint tremble in her limbs to transfer to the weapon.

Only one didn't back down.

"You're not doing anything to her" Jonah growled, the barrel of his Browning never deviating an inch from her. If he fired now, the 9mm bullet would hit her roughly in the middle of the throat. At his range, only a miracle would make him miss the shot. Missing however, was the least of his concerns.

"I am under no obligation to keep any of you alive" she reminded dryly, sweeping her eyes over the armed and obstinate group. White Rock Shooter's bored gaze traveled to the speaker, his appearance finally registering to her. She blinked, then narrowed her eyes at him. Mercifully the greave was lowered as well.

" _You_ " this time, her voice was noticeably colder.

Jonah met her gaze, returning her look with even greater vigor. Again Rock peeked at him, a few seconds longer than last time. Unnoticed by the assembled humans, a flicker of confusion crossed her features.

"You have caused untold chaos among the scholars ranks. It has been accepted for longer than your civilization has been in existence that crossing the boundary into their realm will result in a quick death. Yet you stubbornly refuse to die." Crossing her arms, White Rock Shooter glared at him.

"Lucky me." Instead of fear, Jonah showed only defiance. "Turn around and go back the way you came."

"If I was permitted to, this paradoxical state of yours would be rectified" she threatened.

"Jonah, what're you doing?" Valmet quietly demanded, flicking her lone eye to him in alarm.

Seeing a chance, Koko jolted up past her. Caught by surprise, Valmet only had time to paw at her arm before she left her reach, managing a powerful grab for a split second before she escaped. White Rock Shooter's glowering face turned to the newest source of moment, for the moment ignoring Rock. The girl she was after contemplated running with the opportunity in her lap, but Jonah took one hand off the gun to offer a steadying palm her way, getting across the need to stay still. Risking a peek, he gave her a tiny smile before going back to the enemy, leaving her perplexed.

"You again" White Rock Shooter said dryly, identifying the woman at once. Valmet jostled over to grab her arm firmly with the intent to drag her out of sight, while all three men looked to her blatant move with anxiety. On her part, Koko stood tall even with the one eyed woman ready pull her away.

"You have no reason to be here" she claimed to the girl, fruitlessly tugging her arm back from the paused Valmet.

"Oh?" the girl went noncommittally.

"Look at her" she threw an arm in the direction of the cannon armed girl, "She's not Insane. She's no more dangerous than any other one of them, which you haven't done anything about. Even you have to admit that" she challenged, a devilish grin coming onto her features. At the mention of the word Rock took in a rapid breath, fear momentarily crossing her features.

"I am well aware" White Rock Shooter told her, briefly giving her and the others hope.

"Exactly. So you have no purpose here" Koko declared in triumph, grinning.

White Rock Shooter harrumphed. "You assume I have only one responsibility" she said, tone practically dripping with patronization. An involuntary twitch crossed Koko's features, leaving behind a rictus of a grin.

"Do you not have plans to destroy threats before they can manifest? 'Nip in the bud' or something to that effect. Looking at the state of your world, I doubt it" she dismissed. Valmet finally yanked Koko behind her again, who listlessly complied. Her spilt second plan had a tiny chance of success, but she hoped it would have been enough.

White Rock Shooter turned her head back to her original target, making it clear she was done with the others. Out of the men, R came the closest to pulling to trigger, knowing better than Jonah did that it was less than pointless; he came within seconds of death before thanks to this monster, avoiding his fate only by Koko throwing herself at her mercy. For Rock, she regretted not sprinting away when she could have. When she raised the hand once more, the girl gulped in fear. It was then that Jonah made his move.

He darted over to put himself in front of her.

For a moment no one moved, not even as he stared her down in challenge. "Jonah?" Koko's questioning plea came out as a whisper, almost lost to the breeze. Mutedly the five humans stared in shock at his apparent madness.

"The hell are you doing?" Tojo hissed at him, flicking his bespectacled eyes between them. Behind the boy Rock lowered her cannon some, confused at his behavior.

White Rock Shooter narrowed her eyes at him. "I see you've learned nothing" she commented blandly, uncaring even as he pointed the Hi-Power at her head.

"No" he growled, unaware of everything else around him save for the being in his sights. Including and especially the dumbfounded look on Rock, utterly confused to why he was doing this.

She stayed where in place, doing nothing.

"I just said I don't have to keep any of you alive" she repeated, an edge of frustration in her voice. The greave was kept firmly pointed at Rock, even with Jonah in the way. Realistically his position would make no difference in the outcome. In the corner of his mind he wondered why she didn't simply vaporize them both, she was more than capable of doing it.

"And I'm telling you you're not taking her. Sending her away, killing her, whatever" he spat, his entire body rippling with hatred. White Rock Shooter appeared keenly annoyed, which was slowly giving way to genuine anger.

"You have no power over me" she said tightly. Though a faint ripple of altered gravity swept out from her, nothing else followed it.

"Don't need any" the grip on the pistol was strained from holding so tightly, and his knuckles were practically white. He still kept it pointed at her, directly at her sneering face.

"She doesn't even remember you" she snapped, features sliding into a scowl.

"I don't care!" Jonah snarled back, matching her.

The air itself seemed to be getting charged with static, such was the intensity of the two glares. Then again, it was possible the former was unwittingly putting out vast amounts of power. Behind them the girl looked ready to bolt.

"How do you know that?" Lutz spoke up for the first time, otherwise still pointing his gun at her. Her scowl broke instantly; flashing across her face was some very human embarrassment. She clamped down on it hard, too late to prevent them from noticing. Flipping her pigtailed head his way, the glare was refocused on the steadfast blond man.

"How did you know she was amnesiac?" he spoke again, aware that the others were glancing to him in shock. For a moment they felt a flutter of vertigo at gravity being pulled away. Koko moved to the side of Valmet to see, still well blocked by her body. For someone who was put in such an untenable situation then completely shut down, she was doing remarkably well.

"Know your place human" she snapped at him. The glove was still pointed at the teens; from R he knew the enigmatic device was the weakest tool in her inventory, there was a host of other highly destructive weapons at her disposal. He saw none of them.

"You did it" Koko spoke, unfazed when she flipped her way. Valmet tensed up, especially when the greave covered hand twitched their way.

"You erased Rock's memories" she accused. The growing snarl on White Rock Shooter made her question if the girl was just going to kill them all. She knew she was not just capable of it, nut more than well equipped to pull it off. The same observation Lutz made clicked in her mind.

That was until she suddenly winced, a couple of seconds before an electric shock raced up Koko's arm. Hissing in pain, she clutched it while silently waving an alarmed Valmet to stay where she was. The one eyed woman hesitated, torn between the active threat and her lover in pain. Jonah never stopped aiming at White, quickly motioning to the girl behind him to stay put like his boss did. Nonplussed by the increasingly muddled situation, Rock felt the need to recheck her surroundings. She spotted the new arrival first for precisely this reason.

Though not by intention, the group had formed a rough square; Koko and Valmet to one side, Jonah and Rock against the bulkhead of the Atlas, Lutz, R, and Tojo to the opposite side as the women, and White Rock Shooter on the railing. A perfect spot for a single figure to land in a graceful crouch at the center of the gathering.

The only noises came from the wind and the sea, which was not enough to counter the stunned silence. Human or otherwise were caught completely off guard by the sight of the humanoid being in their midst, increasingly exponentially when it began to rise. As it did, the shapeless form began to change in front of their eyes. Because of the situation, it took several seconds longer than it should for them to realize the altering shape was simply clothing.

When it rose to its full height, as one they saw it wasn't very tall, a couple of inches taller than Jonah at the most. From the boy's point of view, he saw only a large white overcoat, reminiscent of old european officer jackets. On its feet were a pair of smooth grey leather boots, polished to a sheen that would make a drill sergeant proud. From the men's and the women's perspectives, they saw oversized blooming pants which were red and gold, along with a similar toned blouse. On its head was a translucent veil which failed to disguise either its smooth white hair, or the small brown toned horns sprouting from the back of its head which twisted around to point in front of it. She appeared to be the same age as the teens.

What they could all see was how White Rock Shooter reacted; no trace of her arrogance or her rage was present, only muted surprise. Her wide red eyes drank in the appearance of the girl in front of her, numbly processing the sight. What was apparent was the glint of recognition in her gaze, even Rock picking up on it. With the emotion came another one that no one expected to see from her.

When the new horned girl flopped her head around, Jonah aimed his Hi-Power at her without a second thought. The pretty girl (idly he wondered if any of them were ugly) with the pasty skin and magenta eyes merely smiled at him, giving a cheeky wink at him. Turning back ahead, she grinned at an unbalanced White Rock Shooter.

"Hiya" she greeted in a tone which radiated cheerfulness. The dark skinned girl gulped.

"What are you doing here?" What should have been an authoritative demand came out closer to a whimper.

"Check up on you" the horned girl answered brightly. Her arms curled up, one hand supporting her elbow while the other twirled in the air in front of her. Red sleeves covered her arms, while grey leather gloves covered both of her hands. On the errantly moving hand was the unmistakable sight of a white greave over the glove.

"This is my world, you are not authorized to be here" White Rock Shooter snarled, stomping on the railing hard enough to make it shudder. At once the humans could see the baleful glove had moved to the new arrival.

She giggled. "Actually I am, as of today. Seems your erratic behavior hasn't gone unnoticed."

"I am performing my duty, as repugnant as I find it" she spat, glowering at the cheerful girl. On her part the horned being was woefully disregarding the hostility.

 _Just like she did_ , Jonah thought. The parallel was uncannily similar; was it possible this new arrival was watching them and decided to adopt the same attitude?

The girl shook her head side to side in parental bemusement. "White, White, White" she make a tsk sound after each name. When she refocused on the glaring being, she only smiled. "Did you forget why you have this posting in the first place? Our superiors don't like it when we act on our own initiative, especially for worlds like this one. You know that."

"Part of my task is to neutralize Insane Class organisms. There's one right behind you" White Rock Shooter used her other hand to point behind them, instantly getting back into the sights of all six weapons present. The horned girl didn't rise to the bait, her twirling hand pausing.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" she hissed at her.

"Because I'm here for you hot stuff" the horned girl didn't stop smiling; it had much in common with Koko's, except the mask didn't reach her eyes. The pale woman saw it, even from the side. There was a menace in her purple eyes that made all of her instincts scream danger.

White Rock Shooter's expression twisted into a scowl. "This is not your responsibility. You have no-" The girl waved the greave covered hand her way. She was suddenly silenced, eyes trailing to he hand. As the observers watched, the greave was breaking down, wilting and falling away as sand. In seconds there was nothing left but a sheen of dust on her still outstretched hand.

The girl giggled again, flipping her hand around. White Rock Shooter was suddenly lifted into the air, taken completely off the railing. Her legs kicked and struggled, while her hands immediately went to her throat. She pawed fruitlessly, her breathing reduced to a strangled gasp. It was if she was being hung by a noose.

"Oops, zoned out for a moment. Please, do go on" she invited. White Rock Shooter could only managed a hate filled glare at the horned girl while she fought the unseen force which was literally strangling her.

"That's all? Well, good on you. Now if you excuse me" several feet behind the struggling girl a black sphere blossomed into existence, a blight in the view of the dreary shoreline. Unnoticed by the pair but helplessly watched by the group, Koko sucked in a pained breath and clutched her arm in agony.

"You'll...pay...for this" White Rock Shooter heaved out, still fighting the inevitable.

"Sure sure" the girl rolled her eyes dramatically, "Haven't heard that a million times before. Honestly. Oh well, off you go" she waved her hand once more, and White Rock Shooter fell at a ninety degree angle into it. She passed into the black sphere in under a second, and it winked away a second after that.

The horned girl lowered both hands to plant on her hips, sighing and dropping her head. Giving a regretful shake, she murmured "Someday."

Nervously Tojo cleared his throat, making her pick up to blink at him, as if she forgot he was there. Koko took the chance to step in, carefully toeing around a stunned Valmet. Sensing movement, the girl looked the other way to the pair. Gulping to steady her nerves, she stared at the blankly expectant countenance of the girl. Not one of the men lowered their weapons, they just switched to the new threat.

"Hi" was the best she could do for the moment.

"Hi" the girl repeated.

"Okay" she took a deep breath, "First, what. Second, the hell. Third, just happened."

The horned girl blinked, then broke out in a wide grin. "Oops, where're my manners" she turned fully to the woman, bring up a fist in front of her mouth as she cleared her throat, "I suppose I should introduce myself shouldn't I?"

"That would be a good start" Jonah spoke quietly, the closest to her with his Browning was aimed at her head. Behind him Rock hesitantly lowered her cannon, frowning at the absurd situation. Nothing that happened in the past fifteen minutes made any sort of sense to her, and she had the feeling it was only going to get worse.

"Right. My name is Ram"

"Ram" Koko repeated blankly. Her eyes trailed to the horns; unlike the skeletal shape of Dead Master or the smooth length of Black Gold Saw, hers did look like a goat's. unknown to her, both Valmet and R had thought the same thing, almost verbatim in fact. The girl nodded easily.

"Yep. Just an innocent soul with the best job in the universe. And unless I miss my guess, your name is Koko" she ventured. Warily the pale woman nodded. Ram grinned and flicked her normal hand around in apparent victory.

"Great. I figured you were, White isn't the type to wantonly mess with lower life forms like that" she waved away something only she could see.

Tojo sighed. "Welp, we're screwed" he muttered, causing the girl to turn to his direction. Midway she caught sight of Jonah once more, making her stop.

While the others had at least stopped pointing their guns at her, Jonah hadn't. His Hi-Power was still leveled at the girl's head a couple of feet away. She blinked, the mind behind the purple eyes (he was close enough to notice a gear pattern in her irises) churning away at something. The normally intimidating sight of a gun barrel pointed right at the face failed to elicit a reaction at all to her. He wondered if it was because she didn't know what it was (possible) or she had absolute faith in her barrier (likely).

Her ungreaved hand curled up to face level to point at him, not unlike a snake. "You're the traveler, the first human to go to their world" she said simply. He nodded once. Ram suddenly grinned.

"I've heard a lot about you. Going to another dimension with no precautions whatsoever, and surviving? I'm impressed" she half gushed with a wide smile.

Internally Jonah groaned; his weird affinity with women had caused him no shortage of grief, which had only gotten worse over the past six months. In retrospect, having one of _them_ become enamored with him was something he should have expected. Brushing the thoughts aside, he decided to abandon any pretense of subtlety.

"Why are you here?" he demanded coldly. She huffed, the grin morphing into an indolent pout.

"What, no lead up?" she complained. Tojo lowered the MP7 entirely, so to slap his face and groan. Valmet, Lutz, and Koko were close to copying him. R placed his pointer finger at his temple with his thumb extended and mimed shooting himself.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're a threat" he retorted. A flash of worry went across his features when he heard Rock slowly stepping to the side, directly into her view.

"Fine" Ram rolled her eyes dramatically. Less than a second later, the magenta orbs noticed the girl watching her curiously.

Jonah's breath caught in his throat. As much as he blustered with the gun, he knew it was useless. Killing her was never his intent, distracting her was his goal. Anything to stop her from the task he assumed she was here for, anything to stop the inevitable. And as the two looked each other over, he saw it was all for nothing.

"Oh yeah, that was the second thing I was here for" Ram mumbled. When she raised her greave to Rock, he gasped. His stoic exterior was shattered instantly, memories of six months ago flashing in front of his eyes. He wanted to tell her what he felt for her so badly, to see the small smile he prized so much one more time.

Rock brought her cannon up, a jerk of her arm away from being pointed at the inhuman girl. The end of the barrel began to glow once more, giving more than enough time to create a kill shot. Just like his pistol, Ram either didn't notice or didn't care about the weapon.

"Don't" Jonah's plea came out as a whisper, the Browning shaking for the first time since he received it, almost a year ago. When Ram flopped her horned head to his direction, she saw the trembling fear on his features. She raised a brow in an oddly human like way.

"What do you think I'm going to do?" she asked him in puzzlement. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Completely at a loss, he forced his jaw shut. She shrugged once more and turned back to Rock.

Blue light spewed out from the palm of the greave, much like the light White Rock Shooter healed him with. Rock tensed up, jerking the cannon up to aim at her center of mass, only a few feet away. Jonah felt a prickle across his skin at seeing the hazy light, partly from exposure but mainly at seeing a clearly uncomfortable Black Rock Shooter being engulfed in the stuff in short order. Flickering patterns spread throughout the hazy light, similar to water yet completely different.

Only seconds later the light cut out, leaving no trace of its existence on her. With a slight nod she turned the hand around, bringing her open palm out as if to examine something in her hold. More light came out from it, this time it formed a small square pane above her palm. It was multicolored, showing signs and symbols to her gaze. For some reason the sideview Jonah received of the display made his eyes sting, then began to hurt. He didn't want to look away from her in case she tried something, but the pane kept repelling his gaze.

Finally she cut out the strange light show and lowered her hand, grinning broadly. "Perfect" she said happily to no one in particular.

"I don't even wanna know" Tojo muttered under his breath, debating between leaving and shooting the girl. Ram looked up to the confused Rock and beamed.

"Good news, my block is still in place. Now I don't have to kill you" she said brightly, causing Rock to give her a strange look.

Jonah couldn't decide whether to be terrified or elated at her simplistic answer. Trying both for a moment made his head hurt, worse than the data she let him see. In the end he lowered his gun and settled for a flat "What."

"A type four mental block. Straightforward, if a bit time consuming, it puts a mental barrier on memory with a vey low failure rate. There is a one in ten thousand chance if it breaking down and turning her mind to goo, but if that was the case she would've suffered it a while ago" she explained cheerfully to him. Koko balked in confusion, anger, and indignation in equal measure.

"You're the one who did this!" she accused, all but shouting. Flopping her head to the pair with a lazy grin, she nodded over her shoulder.

"Well, yeah. Would you rather I vaporized her?" she rhetorically asked. Koko's open mouth hung open, for a moment unable to proceed. Rock simply stared blankly at her.

"Why?" Jonah took over in her steed, his voice dripping with venom.

Turning to him, she smiled friendlily. Unlike Koko's omnipresent mask, Ram didn't disguise what her eyes could say. Whatever she was, Otherworlder or something else, she was close enough to humans for him to read her.

"An experiment" she said. Her eyes told him of her malicious nature, how she enjoyed seeing people squirm for no other reason than for her entertainment. He wondered if the reason she saved them from White was because of orders from her unknown superiors...or because it was more fun that way.

"Experiment" he repeated numbly once the answer sunk in. She nodded.

"By all rights she" she jerked a thumb to Rock, "Should've killed you all within a week, ten days at the maximum. Not only did she not, your influence on her was enough for her to change her overall personality. Its unprecedented" she explained. While she retained a cheerful lilt to her tone, the mocking edge was missing. She tilted her head to the dumbfounded girl and winked. "Yeah, this is you I'm talking about."

"Then...why?" Jonah struggled to put his mind into some kind of working order, eyes clouding over in thought. Rock's cannon dissolved into lights, her expression akin to the boy's if he lacked any comprehension of what was going on.

"My superiors want to see if it can be repeated. If it can, then you're going to make a lot of people very happy. If not..." Ram shrugged instead of finishing.

"So, wait. What was the deal with White?" R spoke up, consigning himself to observation. As a result, he let the weight of the Magpul drag down his hands. Lutz and Mao had done the same, but Valmet kept her own rifle pointed in her general direction. A short turn had her partly facing him, the cold smile unchanging.

"She's...overzealous. Part of her mission is to destroy Insane types" again Rock stiffened, and again her quiet unease went unnoticed, "But as you could probably tell, she disregarded orders to leave this one be. My guess was she wanted to make it seem like a recon survey rather than an assassination, hence why she limited herself" Ram explained. A shudder went through R and Koko at the memory of her 'solution.' The latter had nightmares of that night still.

"Explains a lot. What's it mean for us?" Valmet asked carefully.

"She'll leave you alone. I will caution you however" her face darkened, "If this one loses control again, I won't stop her." Immediately she brightened back up.

"And what about you?" Jonah questioned coldly, gaining her attention again. Once more, she winked at him.

"I'll be keeping my eye on all of you. Do good and I'll see to it you'll get a reward" she offered with an errant wave.

The best Koko could do was a "Huh" at the girl, observing Tojo rubbing his sellion out of the corner of her eye. Valmet, R, and Lutz independently estimated their chances at taking her down.

"If that's all, I'll be off. Good luck and have fun" Ram finished. She waved a hand at the empty air in front of her, at once forming a greasy black sphere of a portal. Koko grasped her arm once again, hissing in pain. Ignoring her, the horned sauntered through the portal and vanished. It faded away into wisps of black smoke, lasting a scant few seconds before another cold breeze took its remains away. The seven people, human and Otherworlder, were left in her wake.

Ten seconds later Ugo strolled up behind the three men, looking displeased.

"Alright, which one of you idiots shot the radar dish? The things been going nuts for..." the bulky driver trailed off at seeing the hollow expressions of the eclectic group turning to him.

"What'd I miss?" he asked carefully.

"Remember White?" Tojo asked him. Hust as he opened his mouth he pressed on, "Well there's another one who's treating us like guinea pigs. And she has the hots for Jonah."

"Pretty much that" Koko agreed, sighing to stop the inevitable groan. Behind the boy Rock shook her head and went back through the open door she came from, shivering from the cold.

Ugo's face was blank. "Huh. That's, um...huh. Remember when we used to be arms dealers?"

 **A/N: Ram theme: Choosing For You, by I Am Legion.**

 **Special thanks to: Acidika for the usual reasons, Gooball for the oddly formatted support, BlueSkiesXX (I know, FF nonsense) for reviews longer than the chapter itself, and everyone else who still cares (all six of you).**

 **Omake: Season Four.**

"~Time, to rock'n'roll, time, to lose control~" the television paused. The girl holding the remote lowered her hand to glance at her friends.

"So, what'd you think?" seventeen year old Miyuki Sawashiro asked both the boy and the girl on the couch beside her. Despite the finished episode only being half an hour long, the three managed to demolish a large bucket of popcorn between them.

"I like it. Still iffy on the special effects" Kana Hanazawa said with care; seventeen as well being the former's girlfriend, she found herself back in the role of one of the top shows of the past few years.

"Still can't believe they're making a fourth season though. Personally I thought the end of three had everything wrapped up" Micah Solusod shrugged off. The brown skinned teen was the only American out of the trio, as well as the only male.

"Oh well. Still bummed I'm going to be just a cameo" Miyuki said despondently, reaching for more popcorn.

"I envy you. That outfit is terrible" Kana shuddered at merely remembering the cold of winter in what was quite possibly the skimpiest outfit in recent broadcast history.

Micah shrugged. He still had second thoughts about saying yes to Motonaga's surprise phone call for reprising the role of Jonah Mar. On the upside, he got to play with real guns again (albeit under strict supervision and with blank ammo) and was able to travel around the world for the internationally produced hit. Not to mention he was able to hang around several beautiful women again, including one of his good friends. On the downside, he had to get up at five in the morning every day again. And with the new script, act romantically with an avowed lesbian. Friend or not, the upcoming events were going to be awkward.

"Too bad my Jonah/Dead Master story is completely jossed now" Miyuki said sadly. Micah's and Kana's thoughts were derailed, and both turned to clearly shameless teen.

" _What_ " Micah stated.

"Jonah and Dead Master, Tumblr calls it Jo'Master. Its the most popular pairing on fanfiction dot net. Thought I'd toss my own story into the mix" she told them, grinning devilishly.

"But, you're Dead Master" Kana said confusedly, frowning.

"I know, its what makes it so fun" she smirked. Micah sighed and slapped his face.

This was going to be a long eight months.


	4. Chapter 4

For the tenth time in the past forty five minutes, Koko peeked in the rearview mirror. She needed to look, her new compulsive habit developed in the past several days demanded it. The need to see how two of her bodyguards were doing at the present moment. Perhaps it was just her worrying too much, but she didn't want something unexpected to happen. Anything more unexpected she mentally corrected, thinking of Ram with an involuntary shudder.

Rock had the window seat on the drivers side. The inhuman girl she knew well, better than she suspected any of them did, was hanging on to the side of the door, peering outside with undisguised wonder at the sights just beyond the half inch of bulletproof glass. Cape Town was about as average as cities came in Koko's opinion; there was the admittedly excellent view of the South Atlantic from the hills overlooking the port, but other than that there wasn't much to the city itself which grabbed her attention. There was a visible line of smoke rising from the far edge of the sprawl, possibly from a house fire. She hoped it was a house fire anyway.

The pigtailed girl didn't share her jaded view on traveling though, not at this point. She was seeing it all for the first time, or at least the first time she could remember. Koko clamped down on the thought hard, but it was no use. Everything she did seemed to remind her and the team of her state. It wasn't the major stuff such as not recognizing who they were which got to her, but the little things which never seemed to go away. Learning basic written english so to use the phone she gave her, the comical reactions to food-

 _"Try it" Jonah offered to her. A dozen eyes watched the innocuous act, while failing miserably at hiding their concern. Black Rock Shooter frowned at the outstretched gift, showing some suspicion at whatever the red fruit in his hand could be._

 _Finally she gave in, plucking it from his open hand while being careful to not touch him by mistake. Outwardly Jonah didn't mind. Instead he plucked another apple from the tray and took a bite, watching her expectantly. She looked to the firm red apple carefully, turning it over to see if there was anything else about it which could interest her. Finding nothing, she at last brought it up to her mouth to mime the boy's action._

 _One bite broke the skin. She froze, eyes going wide._

-To the amazement at seeing the city which some three and a half million people called home. Koko could only imagine how Jonah was able to deal with it.

Speaking of him, she moved her gaze to the boy in the middle of the backseat next. When the time came to place who in what vehicle, there was an unspoken assumption made that he would join whatever car the girl took. Lutz got the short end of the stick, being forced into riding in the same space as the pair. The blond decided to use what little influence he had over him to cajole Jonah into trying a new game on his smartphone, which he agreed to. It seemed to do the trick at keeping him somewhat distracted from Rock at least.

She didn't catch him looking at her this time. Instead his brow was furrowed while he stared intently at the phone in front of him, concentrating on what it displayed. Apparently the game he was playing was absorbing all of his attention, from the outside anyway. It didn't take a mind reader to tell what was on his thoughts however. Even after the stern rebuke for his actions in the wake of the Ram incident, his attitude hadn't changed.

Koko turned her eyes away from the mirror, putting her thoughts into some semblance of order. A check on Ugo in his natural habitat showed him to be in relatively high spirits compared to the last time they made this trip, perhaps owing to the recent roadwork. The lone path to her friend's workplace/de facto home was in much better condition than before, covered by an almost reflective sheen of blacktop which stretched on and on.

The two grey SUVs leisurely puttered along to the Märchen corporation owned R&D facility, unbothered by law enforcement or anyone looking for trouble. A nice state of existence, Koko decided. It was preferable to being shot at in any case, especially with the crew's inhuman member not yet in combat ready condition (by her definition of combat ready, i.e. teamwork).

"Here we are" Ugo mumbled once the open building with the emboldened stone sign came into view. Both heavily reinforced civilian vehicles pulled up to the single driveway of the manor like home, the former leading the way until the driver put on the SUV's parking brake and killed the engine.

"Lets get this over with" Lutz said resignedly. Before he could exit, Koko leaned over the seat to look directly at the teens, noticing the girl fumbling with her seatbelt while the boy tried to help her. Both paused to meet her gaze.

"Rock" she began, though there was no doubt she was addressing Jonah as well, "Remember what I said about this place. Don't assume anyone here is a threat, because they're not. To us at least. Can I trust you to behave?"

The pigtailed girl stared her down evenly; the few days since waking up in the Atlas's infirmary was not close to enough time for her to develop the same kind of rapport as the others. There was some trust thanks to the crew, which Koko was grateful for. She didn't even need to give any order for them to accommodate her as best as they could, which was far better treatment than a new recruit would get. But there was nothing beyond that state than the basics. Black Rock Shooter did nod in agreement though.

"Good to hear" she finished and unclipped her seatbelt. Unseen by the girl Jonah discreetly hit the tiny button for her own buckle, so when she tried to get it off the restraint came away freely. She gave it a strange look before apparently dismissing the issue, letting it retract so she could go for the handle.

Jonah followed her out the door, though not for the reasons the others were assuming. Rock simply hopped out without a second thought before the others had their own doors open, so it was simply more expedient to go out her way. The fact he was so close to her was simply a welcome bonus.

He watched her take a couple of steps, pausing to simply take in everything. The temperature was warm without being stifling, a consequence of autumn being as close as it was in this part of the world. Despite the nearby city, the air quality was actually quite good for the location. Hearing sounds, Jonah glanced to the other SUV where the rest of the team was exiting, a couple of them taking the opportunity to stretch sore muscles. Upon seeing Wiley go around the back for a rifle, he patted the holster on his hip out of habit.

A pair of individuals left the building's front entrance in an easy pace the moment the last SUV door slammed shut. Rock stopped her woolgathering to glance at the movement, subtly bring herself to bear against the new arrivals. Jonah took a step closer to her in case she did anything, aware of Koko coming around to greet the pair wearing her usual smile. Lutz and Valmet quickly joined her, the later giving her a brief smile first.

"Miss Hekmatyr" greeted the first, a large african man by the name of Mokoena. The burly man in airy clothes, easily a match for Ugo's bulk, looked relatively at ease for once instead of the unbearable stress that counted as normal for him. Whether it was a side effect of coming close to death six months ago or the management of the new lady of the manor was up for debate.

"Hi Moko, how've you been?" Koko greeted him friendlily enough, nodding in acknowledgment. Her piercing eyes flicked to his short companion, her grin shifting coyly. "And Huey Freeman. Long time no see."

The african american boy merely shrugged while stuffing his hands in his pockets. He looked different from the last time any of the crew visited, the most obvious change being his close cut hairstyle instead of the old afro. He was clad similarly as Moko, although he had a rifle almost as long as he was tall slung over his back. It looked almost like an SKS, but a few minor details made her think it was a chinese copy instead. The youth's eyes glanced uninterestedly over the rest of the crew, freezing at the sight of the girl.

"Is that...?" he said with a hushed voice, his stare catching the attention of Moko. He too blinked in surprise at the sight.

"She is. Long story, I'll explain later" Koko waved off, "Now where's Miami? I trust she's not off in the hills?"

"N-no. She's inside, um" Moko cleared his throat, his old self showing through while he gave the entrance a nervous look.

A short moment later a third figure strolled out from the entrance, catching the eyes of the ten mercenaries. Only a couple felt for their weapons, Jonah among them. Rock on the other hand instantly tensed up, her blank features sliding into a scowl to match the new girl. Her entire posture shifted, one clenched hand going to her side. Dots of multicolored light heralded the arrival of a weapon, quickly taking the shape of a black sword.

He switched his attention from her to the new arrival, seeing the reason for her reaction immediately. Jonah could tell at a glance the twentiesh young woman striding towards them wasn't human. If her outfit consisting of baggy leggings, a blouse a size too small, and a conical witch style hat didn't give her away (or the purple hair and eyes for that matter) then the purple tinted metal covered gloves she had in place of hands would have. Despite knowing better, he felt for his Browning's grip.

The Otherworlder held one hand out as she walked, passing between the two humans and ignoring their quiet pleas for her to stop. Lights danced out from her hand, in seconds manifesting a bizarre blend of black and silvery metal in the shape of an enormous axe, one almost as big as she was. She paused at last a short distance from Rock, letting the sharp edge of the oversized weapon lower close to the ground.

Jonah put a hand on Rock's shoulder, startling her enough to make a tiny jump. She gave him a short glower before turning back to the enemy Otherworlder, twisting her sword around to get ready for a quick slash. He didn't let go, gripping hard in spite of her insistent shakes to get free.

The situation was concluded by an authoritative voice bellowing " _MII_!"

Instantly the axe wielding woman winced. The weapon slipped from her limp claws, disappearing into flashing lights just as it hit the ground. She looked completely and utterly terrified while she slowly turned around the way she came.

An attractive human female of Chinese ethnicity stood in the doorway, hands planted on her hips as she stared coldly at the Witch.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, her words seemingly causing the temperature to drop. The target of her ire gulped nervously.

"I-I was ch-checking the n-new arrivals over" she half squeaked. Jonah noted with interest how she seemed to be shivering at the sight of the woman, who wore a black tee shirt and khaki pants. On her part Rock lowered her sword, confused by what was going on. In contrast Lehm casually strolled up to the Witch, pulling out a cigarette along the way.

"Moko and Huey had that taken care of already. Now" the woman known as Karen Low jabbed her arm in the direction of the door, brokering no argument. Without a second of hesitation the Witch scampered off as she was told to do, sparing only enough effort to give Rock one more suspicious look.

Lehm chuckled. "Well and truly whipped eh?" he commented, several agreeing nods coming from the men. Moko and Huey both sighed in relief.

Apparently satisfied, Karen turned to the new arrivals expectantly. Her eyes locked onto the black haired woman, instantly sliding into a cold scowl. The Finn returned it in equal measure.

"Valmet" she acknowledged, lacking any emotion.

"Karen" Valmet replied in kind.

Koko clapped her hands together, catching everyone's attention. "How about instead of killing each other, we get down to business?"

xXx

A pleasant oder wafted from the oven, filling the packed kitchen with delightful promise. At some unseen cue, the youth nodded and grabbed a pair of thick mitts waiting on the countertop. Ignoring the couple of dozen eyes that watched his every move, Huey pulled the hatch down to reach inside. He pulled his hand back to reveal the source of the enticing smell: a large baking pan covered in brown cookies.

He set the pan on the top of the oven and snagged a waiting spatula, absently grabbing a thick ceramic plate waiting off to the side. One by one he gently pried the cookies from the pan onto the plate, making sure not to move too fast lest it fall to the floor. There was roughly two dozen of the baked treats on the plate when he finished, turning to go to the kitchen island in order to set them down.

"Here" was all he said before going back to the oven.

Looking around, Tojo sighed at everyone else in the cramped kitchen appearing overly eager to taste test the cookies and reached for one first. He took a second to note it had peanut butter chips mixed in before taking a bite.

"Pretty good" he said after a moment.

The rest of the mercenaries reached for the plate, most being polite to take only one cookie, though Jonah took two. He withdrew a short distance to offer the second one to Rock, who was clearly intrigued by the smell but refrained from grabbing one herself. She eyed the proffered treat carefully, giving it some consideration. Shrugging, she took it from his limp fingers without touching him.

"Good, no?" Mii was smiling, arms crossed while she observed the gathered humans munching on the treat. At the moment her hands were bare, the metal gloves she wore for the 'greeting' set aside by the strict orders of her master. The majority of the guests were on edge from her presence, but Huey showed no concern for his housemate. He even set the SKS copy aside when they went indoors.

"It is. You made these?" Wiley asked her curiously, his bespectacled eyes flicking from her to Huey. He didn't concern himself with talking, instead he took the plate back when it was empty to refill it from a second pan freshly retrieved from the oven.

"I did" the mature Witch confirmed proudly, her conical hat bobbing with her vigorous nodding, "I am quite skilled at cooking."

"With Moko's help" Huey spoke without looking, missing her short glare at him.

R frowned, munching on the cookie thoughtfully. "Anyone else think this is weird?"

"Which part? The fact there's another civil Otherworlder in the room, the fact neither she nor Rock are trying to murder each other, or that we're eating cookies she made?" Lutz questioned laconically, reaching for the replenished plate the moment it returned to the counter. Lehm had him beat however, chuckling at his sour look.

"I think this is nice" Valmet said brightly, a far cry from her poorly concealed bloodlust a scant few minutes ago.

"Agreed" Ugo and Mao chirped up. Tojo sighed and grabbed another cookie before they were all gone. The fact Karen and Moko had immediately left in a small car for grocery shopping minutes after fetching Dr. Miami made him the most suspicious of the lot, but after five minutes of nothing but an incongruous offer he reluctantly decided to dial down his paranoia.

Meanwhile Jonah mechanically ate his cookie, hardly noticing how it tasted. His attention was on only one person; not the American who once tried to trap them, not the Otherworlder who escaped Kaspar and Gold Saw's (his lip involuntary curled at even the thought of those two) camp that gathered them for a night of bloodshed in Roanapur six months prior, not even the pleased reactions from his comrades.

Rock nibbled the edge of the cookie first, letting tiny crumbs touch her tongue. It went downhill fast when her eyes widened, making the same discovery as eight months before. He blinked and it was gone, her cheeks bulging while she chewed away. She wasn't exactly happy by his reckoning, closer to pleased than anything. Not enough for a smile sadly.

Jonah returned to the plate for another cookie, pondering whether he should try to get her to grab one. The others would approve of her growing independence, so she wouldn't need supervision twenty four seven. He made a mental note to try it some other time, for now he wanted to see if he could make her smile. Glancing at the patio outside the cramped kitchen, he wondered what it was the two women were discussing, though he had a decent guess.

Koko was aware of the lack of commotion in the tiny kitchen, even though she could hear little of what was going on in there. Since there was no screams, shouts, or gunfire, she hesitantly labeled it as good.

"Ram huh?" her longtime friend and part time nutcase friend spoke, bringing her back into the present.

Doctor Minami Amada, also known as Dr. Miami to those close to her. Koko expected some change since the last time she saw the kooky researcher, but there was far less than she would reasonably expect. Six months ago she was captured by Kaspar and nearly beaten to death, yet the only sign of the savage treatment was a tiny scar on her brow. She leaned against the railing away from the window door, a lit cigarette pinched between her fingers while she smiled blandly at the pale woman. Appearing at ease, she was evidently concerned about this new tidbit of information.

"Yeah. I thought White was bad" Koko replied, looking away to the direction of the hills, "The first positive thing I can get out of this mess is they're not as unified as they appear, so there's a chance I could play one off against the other."

"Is there a second bit?" Miami asked her. Like her, the smile she had on didn't reach her bespectacled eyes. Idly she noted her glasses were the same as before; Koko expected her to at least change brands afterwards.

"They won't bother us unless Rock goes Insane again. Like I needed more prompting for that" she shook her head, taking a deep breath to stop the memories.

"Can't blame you. Even though she was a super badass, she seemed pretty scary" Miami commented, noticing a tiny shudder in her friend.

"You weren't there that night. Eighteen SEALs dead, another half dozen wounded. A single team of those guys would stomp my unit into the ground, yet she tore them apart, a few of them with her bare hands. Took an airstrike just to put her out of commission for a bit. If Jonah wasn't with us, we wouldn't be having this conversation" Koko's eyes were glossy, recalling the night where everything went wrong. For everyone involved.

"Ah cheer up" Miami ribbed the pale woman playfully, "You got her back. So she got the factory reset treatment, no problem. Its not like you're flying blind here."

A grin tugged at Koko, a genuine one this time. "That's true."

"Though I'm curious, how does this affect your plan? Will she tag along for the next snatch mission?" she inquired expectantly. The pale woman shook her head.

"Not gonna happen. If that night didn't happen, then sure. At this point she would know the same small unit tactic the rest of them have down pat, and hopefully be a decent enough shot with a rifle. As is? When the time comes to get Chatty Rabbits-Foot, she'll be on the bench" Koko explained.

Miami sighed, glancing skyward. "Makes sense." she murmured. Then she shook off the malaise to grin at her.

"Hey, how's your brother doing?" she asked cheekily.

In response Koko gave her a dry look. "Why do you ask me this every time we talk?"

"Because it never gets old, that's why" she lackadaisically shrugged off. Koko groaned and rolled her eyes.

"The US Navy hit his ship with a cruise missile and a flight of F-18s. Maybe thirty to forty tons worth of ordinance landed on the Midgard. No survivors" she dryly repeated. Idly she wondered if quickly forgiving Miami after concealing something as massive as a semi-permanent portal in her own backyard from her was such a good idea.

The scientist snickered. "Ah c'mon, you can do better than that. Didn't you go drinking the night you got the news?"

"Believe it or not I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in months" she smoothly changed directions, smiling as her friend took the bait.

"Wow, really? Did you find God?" she joked.

"Nope, just decided sober is the way to go" she countered.

"Oh, on the subject of the Navy, former Admiral Smith's tribunal in the Hague is in the next few days" Miami brought up. Whatever she thought Koko would do, a bored shrug wasn't what she pictured.

"He'll get off easy. Not like the nuke was his doing" she waved off.

"Yeah but the rest of the world thinks it was. Even after the Thais went public with the whole Otherworlder thing and praised him for blowing that pisshole away, it doesn't change the facts" Miami said.

"He won't get any nasty treatment, maybe a year of jail time max. Why do you care anyway?" Koko turned around.

"I don't. But Huey's been keeping track of the entire thing. I think Karen's interested too. Wonder why" she tilted her head back, as if to see if the sky had her answer. "Anyway, those trucks you asked me to hold on to for a few days are at the edge of the property." she added as an afterthought.

Koko nodded approvingly. "Appreciate it Miami. I owe you for this." to which the Japanese woman waved off.

"Don't owe me anything but a fondling session with Valmet. Its because of you Karen has a new sidekick, and I have my own badass lackey. Wish she was as cute as Jonah though. By the way..." she leered suggestively at Koko.

"You still can't have him" she shot down, chortling darkly at the woman slumping in disappointment.

xXx

 _The next day..._

"Welcome to Perimeter Charlie" Jonah read under his breath, tracking the large sign until it vanished from sight. His words were drowned out by the diesel engine of the cargo truck, poorly muffled even from inside the cab.

The four truck convoy passed by the sign without a care, while brush filled scrubland stretched away in all directions. This region of South Africa was largely unpopulated, and internally Jonah wondered why their clients decided to establish a base out in the middle of nowhere. Ultimately it wasn't important; what mattered was insuring a repeat of their last convoy job didn't happen. With the number of similarities to last time, including the coarse uniforms everyone but Koko and Rock wore, he was extra concerned.

What counted as a backseat in the truck contained himself and Rock, who had wrapped herself in her jacket in an attempt to rest. Koko had the passenger seat, typing away at her laptop in spite of the frequent bumps. The arrangement was almost the same as the ride to Miami's, except Valmet was driving this vehicle. Predictably she kept her eye on the road, for the time being avoiding the impulse to be affectionate with her boss.

"Okay, lets review one last time" Koko spoke, her words passing through a headset to the team. Jonah abandoned his thoughts to focus, knowing exactly what it was she was going to go over. A pair of groans over the channel told him how the others felt about it.

"We review any more and I'll be repeating this in my sleep" Mao complained from the last truck, audible only because of the radio. Idly he nudged the girl, rousing her from whatever sleep she could grab. He gestured to her own set, and she begrudgingly put hers on over her head. The mike wasn't on, not that she could use it normally.

"And this'll be the last time, so shut up" Valmet rebutted, fortunately for his sake from the first vehicle. A couple snickers could be heard over the channel, though it was impossible to tell from who.

"Alright" Koko began, gathering a breath, "Our contact is a Captain Seager, of Security Services Incorporated. They're a small time PMC group that's fresh on the stage here. They have a lot of American ex-servicemen, but there's plenty of South Africans and Russian exiles from the NUSSR. We're dropping off a shipment of Mistral SAMs with some small arms" her frown was visible through the radio, "Picking up the rest of our fee, and leaving. It'll be easy peasy."

"Now that you said something about it..." Lehm chuckled darkly.

"I didn't hire any extra muscle this time, you can't use that excuse" she countered sourly.

Jonah listened with half an ear, taking the opportunity to recheck his Magpul Masada. Koko made some half hearted complaints about buying a new set of the rare rifles after their originals were lost in Roanapur or taken by the US Navy, more for effect than any real anger. Every once and a while she made some noises about buying new weapons for them to use, such as HK416s or ARX-160s (Mao once mooted the idea of using TAR-21s), but ultimately it went nowhere. In the end, it didn't matter to him.

Something at the edge of his senses grabbed his attention, even over the loud engine. Peering out the window, his eyes strained to find whatever it was. In the periphery of his vision he was aware of Rock picking up as well.

"I got eyes on a chopper" Lutz reported over the radio.

Seconds later he spotted a growing speck, which quickly manifested itself as a small helicopter that flew over the convoy. It was a small black AH-6 Little Bird, tiny yet packing a set of rocket pods along with a couple of what were likely riflemen hanging on the sides. The Little Bird circled them once more before turning to the same direction they were going, powering away faster than they were moving. He followed it for a second, sighting the profiles of buildings coming up.

"Think they're friendly?" Wiley idly asked, the sound of a magazine being fed in reaching through the connection.

The question went unanswered as the four trucks slowed, passing by a checkpoint without stopping. A single sign interrupted a long stretch of chain link fence, claiming the space beyond the border to be "Camp Surefire." Underneath was a simple warning: "Unauthorized visitors will be fired upon."

Jonah kept an eye out as they entered, his instincts kicking in to analyze the situation. 'Camp Surefire' wasn't very large, more like a forward operating base by his standards. There were a number of prefabricated buildings strewn around from barracks to garages, but nothing which suggested permanency. Moreover, though he spotted numerous uniformed troops out and about, there didn't seem to be many of them. He put a haphazard guess at around eighty in the base.

The lead truck slowed down further, the occupants inside lurching in spite of Valmet's best efforts to the contrary. It came to a final stop in front of a nondescript building that's sole distinguishing feature from the others was a ten meter flagpole, topped by a triangular blue and gold flag. Glancing into the rearview mirrors, Jonah noted the others pulling up alongside rather than nose to tail; given they were there for a delivery, it made perfect sense.

A trio left the building just as she killed the engine, three men in uniforms. Jonah kept his eyes on them, picking out details. The center one had a blue beret atop his head and a holster strapped to his hip, while the two flanking him toted rifles (FNCs he noted with some nostalgia). All three had splotched desert fatigues. They strode deceptively fast towards the lead truck, their goal obvious.

"Alright, lets do this" Koko said cheerfully, unclipping her seatbelt and flinging her door open.

Tojo and Ugo were the first to reach her, though not by much of a lead. Wiley, Lutz, Mao, and Lehm made a thin perimeter around the vehicles, keeping a watchful eye on the mercenaries that glanced warily their way. R made his way to Koko, joining Valmet when she hopped out herself. Before Jonah left, he looked to Rock expectantly, observing how she pushed her arms through the jacket's sleeves.

"Time to go" he said, not moving until she rose to a hunch.

Koko met the trio on the edge of the dirt roadway, wearing her best smile. While the flanking men did an excellent impression of statues, the leader smiled back as they approached. He stopped a couple of feet away and stuck out a hand.

"Miss Hekmatyr, welcome to Camp Surefire" he greeted friendlily, his words betraying his nationality as American.

"Captain Seager, pleasure to meet in person" Koko greeted right back, taking the offered hand and giving in two tight shakes before he released.

"Five minutes early too, I'm impressed. I see your reputation is well deserved" he complimented with a nod.

Jonah maintained a careful balance of proximity and visibility, knowing people tended to react poorly to what he was. Rock would have the same mentality, if they had more time to teach her to be careful. As it was, she walked to Koko's side to get a good look at the men her employer was speaking to.

Captain Seager noticed the movement beside the woman, and he looked. He blinked, his smile dropping noticeably. His two guards immediately tensed up, both swinging their FNCs to her direction. They only stopped when they saw the three armed guards of the woman matching their movements.

"Oh...kay" he said softly, glancing back at Koko and pointing at Rock, "Pardon my bluntness, but is that a Witch?"

Jonah didn't need to look to know her smile had turned cold. "Yes, I have an Otherworlder bodyguard in my employ. Is that going to be a problem?"

Captain Seager frowned, while his men exchanged uncertain glances. "Perhaps. These things do have something of a nasty reputation you know. But, if you trust it with-"

" _She_ " Koko corrected, the lone word somehow carrying far. The mercenary leader unconsciously gulped.

"She" he agreed quietly, "Will she cause any problems while you're here?" what he was likely trying to do was exert his authority, but it came out closer to a weak plea than anything else.

"She doesn't cause problems" Koko said, her tone almost playful despite the implied threat, "She finishes them."

"...Right. Uh...anyway, my office is right inside" he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, "If you'll follow me, we'll get everything sorted out. My men will unload the cargo for you."

"That's generous of you Captain. Lead the way" Koko invited of him. When he turned to walk back inside, she followed him with Valmet and R trailing behind her. The two men were left in place, trying and failing not to stare at their young counterparts.

While Lehm and Tojo went about directing a small flock of 'volunteers' to remove the french made missiles from the last truck, Jonah kept his guard up in the presence of the two men. This was his job; look unassuming and watch for danger. Rock stayed where she was, her pigtailed head roaming around to watch whatever it was that caught her attention for the moment, from the armed troops to the distant sight of the patrolling Little Bird.

Finally one of the men cleared his throat. "Uh, Hi" he greeted unnecessarily. Unlike Seager, the way he spoke hinted towards a former dominion colony.

"Hi" Jonah acknowledged. The South African man's parter gave him a dirty look, but nevertheless he carried on.

"My names Garder. What's yours?" he asked, nervous yet friendly enough.

"Stop it" his partner hissed, giving off an obvious Russian accent.

Garder took the hand on the barrel of his FNC off to flippantly wave him off. "Don't mind Markov, he's kind of a jerk."

Jonah debated for a moment, idly tapping on Rock's arm when she began to walk off. She looked back at him dryly for stopping her, but she didn't move away again. Finally she noticed the two conversing men and examined them, ignoring the Russian's bristling.

"I'm Jonah. This is Black Rock Shooter, but we call her Rock" Jonah nodded to the girl. Garder turned to her, taking in the sight of the inhuman girl. Idly she crossed her arms, giving every impression of being bored.

"Black Rock Shooter, huh. Can she talk?" he asked carefully.

"No" he replied blandly.

"But she can understand me" he continued. In lieu of answering Rock nodded in his place, her blank gaze locked on him. Markov snorted.

"So" he shook his head, "Is it true they can make weapons out of some light show thing?"

"Yeah" Jonah nodded.

"Cool. Can you show me?" he suddenly asked.

"Garder" Markov warned, this time causing the man to give him a dirty look back.

"What, we're not allowed to be friendly?" he challenged.

"Nyet you jackass" Markov groaned. Garder rolled his eyes.

"Still, can I see?" he pressed. The Russian scowled at him.

Jonah glanced her way, watching her follow suit a couple of seconds later. "Sword."

She continued to look at him blankly for a moment, likely considering his request. Finally she shrugged, uncrossing her arms to hold her left out. Clenching a fist, lights danced down her arm in a display he only half watched. Garder didn't disguise his amazement, while Markov couldn't look away from the incredible display. Finishing, Rock brought the black sword up slowly to the sunlight, letting the weak sheen reflect around. Distantly Jonah was aware the little show had gathered a lot of attention from passerby's.

"Holy shit" Garder whispered breathlessly, grinning a few seconds later.

"Okay, I admit that was impressive" Markov conceded with a nod.

"Wish I could do that" Garder shook his head with a grin, "Would make airport security less of a hassle."

"Why would you take a gun on a plane?" Jonah asked him. Rock twirled the sword around, her movements deliberate so as to not draw anyone's ire more than she already had.

"Because he's an idiot" Markov snarked with a shrug.

"Because you never know. Remember Flight 193? I wouldn't have a sword though, I'd have this" Garder reached for his belt, moving his FNC out of the way. A few seconds of digging yielded his goal: a mid sized handgun which he showed to the pair. It was a revolver.

"Mark four Webly. My grandfather used this back in World War Two. Love this gun" he chuckled, making Markov groan again. Out of the corner of his eye Jonah noticed Rock staring intently at the pistol, her expression unreadable.

"Here, watch this" Garder reached his arm out, pointing the antique gun at an unoccupied stretch of the base. It was a classic one handed shooting pose. Jonah blinked once.

In the fraction of a second the automatic action took, everything went wrong.

Rock rushed by him in a blur, sweeping her sword around for an upwards slash. She made no noise, and all of her moves were as smooth as could be. Garder could only stare blankly while his forearm fell to the ground, still clutching the gun. A thin trail of blood was all that connected the limb to the rest of his body, a few drops falling down from her skyward blade.

Jonah's heart beat once, then twice. On the third beat Markov brought his FNC up to the Otherworlder without a sound, rage beginning to cloud his features. He was faster though, snapping his Magpul Masada up to fire a quick burst which tore his throat apart. Rock finished with a downwards slash that dropped a shock immobilized Garder immediately.

He wanted to know why Rock just killed a man, but there wasn't time. Shouts and screams reached his ears, and he swung his rifle around to fire.


	5. C h ap te r 5

Jonah didn't have time to question why Rock just killed a man. He wanted to; replaying the scene in his mind, he could not point to anything which may have provoked her. All Garder did was show her the gun, and the girl took his arm off. She murdered him, seemingly for no greater reason than because she wanted to. The teen promised himself he would get some answers. Later.

For the time being, he was in a firefight. Jonah dashed to the nearest piece of cover, feeling rather than seeing the puffs of dirt being kicked up around him. Discerning friend from foe was difficult thanks to the omnipresence of the standard 5.56mm bullets, but he tried his best. Slamming his shoulder into the fender of the nearest of the cargo trucks they arrived in, he peeked around the side with his rifle at the ready. A lone mercenary was sprinting away towards a prefabricated building; a quick burst in his back dropped him.

"Having fun?!" whipping himself around, the teen nearly put a bullet into the panting man, who nonetheless grinned. Tojo was looking out of breath, but he still seemed to be in high spirits.

"Working on it" Jonah answered, going back around to shoot. The japanese man popped up to the truck's hood to take aim himself, both of them opening fire at whatever target presented itself.

When a black and silver blur raced by the truck, the teen unconsciously switched his sights from a regrouping squad of mercenaries in order to cover her. One man darted around his own cover to shoot her, only to get a round in his neck for his troubles. Tojo immediately noticed the boy had changed his objectives, but instead of telling him off he took part in helping too.

Rock's goal was clear: a regrouping squad of angry men with automatic weapons. Under his breath Jonah cursed. So long as she stayed out in the open, he could cover her effectively. But if she closed the gap and left his sight, then he couldn't protect her. Even though she was so much more dangerous up close, he didn't want that to happen. He deliberated for a couple of seconds; oddly he tried thinking up an excuse for his actions, such as drawing fire away from the others or something. Realizing they would see through him anyway, the teen made up his mind.

He was the only one having this problem. Lehm had already taken out many of the mercenaries on his own, killing one after another. All the sign of his efforts was a slight increase in his breathing. The others weren't as laid back, yet they were hardly stressed. The volume of gunfire was reaping a toll on the firebase's population, leaving behind a growing number of bodies. Lutz lead Mao and Ugo from one truck ahead, moving up before they could mount a defense. From the building Koko vanished to, flashes of light shown from the windows, steadily moving to the exit.

Wiley ceased firing to bolt for the one open vehicle, seeking to get in the back. Lehm could guess what he wanted, so moving to provide covering fire was no problem. A single target tried to get into the back first, only for the bulky man to cut him down. Another saw a chance and tried to lean out of cover, but he was shot before he could so much as scream. The bespectacled man did one more thing prior to climbing in, which was to toss a grenade as far as he could throw. Even if it didn't kill anyone, it would distract the mercenaries from his real objective.

Jonah was at best peripherally aware of what his team was doing. The important part was to get to Rock, stopping anyone who wanted to harm her. This was his reason for leaping out from his precarious cover into the open, running as fast as he could go. Tojo gave him an incredulous look at his apparently suicidal behavior, but he couldn't voice a protest even if the boy was in the mood to listen to him. Grumbling obscenities, he reloaded a fresh magazine in to help him out as best as he could.

Sprinting towards the source of the gunfire, the teen hoped he would make it time. Jonah hit the side of the building near the corner, popping around the corner with his rifle at the ready. He had to jerk back immediately when he saw a man with a FNC notice him, retreating just in time for bullets to tear apart the corner. He scowled, until he heard the man scream. It was cut off quickly, along with the gunfire. Seeing his cue, he peeked around the corner, just in time to catch a flash of black vanish around the next one.

Despite all that was going on, Jonah had to take a deep breath. Ignoring the body or the streak of blood on the wall, he bolted from his spot towards the other side of the building, hoping he wasn't in someone's sights. Jonah was almost to the other side when gunfire raked the wall behind him, perilously close. Chunks of concrete flecked off his back and his head, doing nothing but redoubling his efforts. A large chunk bounced off his arm, but he ignored it.

The smart thing for Jonah to do was to throw himself against a wall once he was out of sight, to present as small of a target as possible. What he did instead was dart around so he was out of sight of the shooter, to discover there were three men less than ten feet away at the same time they did. It dawned on him how terrible of a mistake he made even as he whipped his Magpul Masada up to fire a burst, diving out of the way at the same time. Out of the four rounds he expended, one found its mark, in the shoulder of a cursing mercenary.

A shot tore into his thigh, causing Jonah to stumble. He tried to shoot back, but when he raised the barrel up to fire, he halted. The farthest mercenary suddenly flew forward as a boom sounded out, falling with a charred hole in his torso. The other two men were quick, one turning to the attacker while the other pulled the trigger at him. But she was faster.

The second trooper was slashed diagonally, and she was pushing past him to draw a bead on the third man as he dropped. Seeing his comrade die out of the corner of his vision made the mercenary move his weapon a minute degree; combined with the normal recoil of the FNC, it changed a kill shot into a near miss. The bullet whizzed by Jonah, closer than any miss thus far. The man had fired only once before a blue bolt slammed into him, knocking him back and causing the rifle to tumble from his grasp.

Rock glanced at him with a cold gaze. It was possible she was mentally checking herself, recalling the teen's status as an ally, not an enemy. Jonah hoped that was the case, since he wasn't going to raise a gun against her. The second the thought crossed his mind, he yanked the Magpul Masada around. Ejecting the magazine, the teen coldly realized he was down to almost nothing. Loading a full one gave some relief, but feeling the lone spare he had left took it away.

When she turned away once more, Jonah sputtered out a "Wait!" The inhuman girl paused, glancing back at him. This time her features held annoyance.

"We need to regroup with the others" he told her. Half expecting her to ignore him, it came as a relief when she nodded instead. It almost vanished when she darted off once again, but she stopped a few feet away to check on him expectantly.

Jonah took a deep breath of the dry air, tasting the dust and the cordite and the blood. Ignoring his own feelings, he checked his surroundings. The gunfire seemed to be tapering off, good news. When he tried to walk a bolt of pain raced up from his thigh, causing him to gasp. Dabbing a hand at the source, he blinked in surprise at the blood coating his hand, courtesy of the shallow but large wound on his thigh. He was injured, bad news.

Picking up, he began to sweep his head around. Noticing Rock was doing the same, he tried to focus on whatever it was that registered on his senses, something other than gunfire or screams. When he had it, Jonah snapped his head to the direction of the sounds. The tiny speck was growing ever closer, a flying beetle of beating rotors and large guns. The Little Bird and its angry crew were back, worse news.

Jonah and Rock were out in the open.

"Run!" he shouted, for the moment tuning out details like his leg screaming in agony. What mattered was getting out of sight of the airborne killing machine with rockets, nothing more. She was faster than him of course, even without him being hobbled. Suppressing the old feeling of envy, he ran as fast as he could towards the building. Even though the helicopter crew could probably see him, the position gave him better odds of surviving the barrage.

His thought process came to a screeching halt when he saw Rock changing directions; she wasn't running for cover. She was going to a patch of open area, stopping out in the open. Anyone else, he would assume they wanted to die. For her, there was a weak chance of taking down the helicopter on her own. The dancing lights that heralded the arrival of her chain gun told him what choice she made.

Jonah stopped going for the building, instead dashing towards her. Even if his judgment wasn't clouded, he knew what she was doing was madness. No matter how effective her chain gun was (he could point to _one_ example where it did the trick), she didn't know what the Little Bird was capable of. She would stay in place, trying to shoot the helicopter down as its own weapons and riflemen on board fired on her.

Letting the heavy weapon plant into the ground, Rock hefted the barrels up as far as she could. The same bulk which made it so potentially dangerous now served to hinder her efforts, since despite her own strength she couldn't lift it up high enough when the chopper came close. It crossed the teen's mind to help her, but he dismissed it as foolhardy; supposing they did succeed in lifting it up, it didn't stop the pair from being sitting ducks.

The Little Bird swooped in, trading height for speed. Gunfire peppered from the sides, the men there shooting at any potential foes. Its main armaments were aimed in Rock's direction, either recognizing who she was or it saw the chain gun as a free target. Jonah was closing in, finally getting within arms reach after what seemed like an eternity. When he grabbed her arm, she sent a glare at him, refusing to budge even as he frantically tugged.

That was until something streaked out, too fast to track. Its white trail showed the projectile's path, especially as it swerved mid air to close in on the banking Little Bird. The explosion felt powerful enough to knock Jonah off his feet even from as far away as he was, his grip on Rock the one thing keeping it from happening. They both grimaced, blocking faces with arms to stop the buffeting wind.

A tremendous crash that plowed into a prefab building announced the end of the Little Bird, with a final detonation of its remaining munitions marking its grave. Debris pelted off Jonah, but he had to lower his protective forearm in order to see what happened. Idly he was aware of the ongoing death grip on Rock, catching her observing the tattered remains of the helicopter alongside him.

Seeing a wrecked chopper was nothing new to the teen. Seeing a fresh one, still burning off its fuel, wasn't as common however. Especially one which had crashed a scant twenty meters away, with a crew which numbered from two to a half dozen men still on board. Gulping nervously, he sheepishly realized he was still holding onto Rock, so he reluctantly let go.

The chain gun dissolved into flashing lights, vanishing back to the ether. Shrugging, she turned to power away without a second thought. The rising smoke caused Jonah to cough, halting his uneasy staring at the thing which nearly killed them. In the process he discovered the gunfire had died down to almost nil, only a few pops showed there was any resistance left. It was time to regroup.

Staring down the pain was the easy bit in the long trek back to the trucks. It felt like someone was holding a blowtorch to his thigh, though untying his belt to loop over the wound made it more tolerable, enough to move anyway. The challenge was going to be explaining what happened, and why. At the very least, Koko was going to be furious. Once again Jonah reviewed the mental scene of the mercenary's death, pondering what could have set Rock off.

Lutz was moving back to the trucks at a sedate pace alongside Ugo and Mao, but upon seeing Jonah he quickly jogged over. "Hey, you alright?"

"Got shot. Nothing serious" the teen replied, some strain in his voice indicating he was lying. The blond frowned as he looked over the injury.

"Lets get you patched up" he said, to which Jonah nodded to. When the man offered a hand to help he shook his head.

They were among the last to return, being perfunctorily examined by the others as they took a breather or reloaded. Lehm glanced over the pair, his expression unreadable until he turned to a sheepish Wiley. With a chuckle he patted the large man on the back.

"Good job on the missile" he complimented.

"C'mon, it was nothing. Mistrals are really easy to jury rig" the bespectacled man brushed off. Nevertheless, both Tojo and Mao offered him a thumbs up.

One glance told Jonah they were avoiding Rock. Not completely of course; Ugo asked if she was okay, and she nodded. But other than that, they didn't fully acknowledge her presence. The pigtailed girl raised an eyebrow at them, perhaps questioning why they had turned cold. Quiet tension filled the air, having nothing to do with the numerous bodies strewed around.

From the building she disappeared to Koko returned, powering out the front entrance with both Valmet and R flanking her. On the back of the latter was a slung weapon he didn't have before, Jonah couldn't tell what it was from his location. Right now the answer could wait, since the pale woman stopped in their midst, her gaze cold despite the temperature. A look at her face showed a red flag had him on edge immediately.

Koko wasn't smiling.

"Okay. From the top: who started this, and why" her tone was sharp and very displeased, causing the men to quail. Minutes after a firefight yet they were more terrified than ever.

Lehm took a deep breath before stepping forward. "Wasn't me."

"Not me" Lutz said quickly, waving his arms plaintively. Tojo and Ugo copied him, Mao shaking his head as he gulped.

"I heard gunfire, and these guys started shooting" Wiley piped up as well, nervous in spite of his accomplishment.

Her cold gaze didn't change. "See, here's the problem. Seager may not have been the brightest or the best of leaders. But he had an established record for keeping his word. Once I explained Rock to him, he apologized for his rudeness. Now, he's slumped over his desk with a half dozen bullets in his chest. I'd like to find out why this happened."

Since they were innocent in this matter, Valmet and R checked the others over for injuries. The one eyed Finn noticed the blood on Rock and narrowed her gaze suspiciously. R milled about, twisting himself around to insure no one else was going to interrupt the ad hoc meeting. In the process Jonah was finally able to see the gun he had; a Thompson submachine gun, with a drum and a grip. The teen had seen guns like it before in old movies, but never with his own eyes. Why the Italian decided to take it with them was a mystery (he guessed Seager had it as a trophy of some kind), though perhaps he wanted a memento.

" _Jonah_ " Koko's stern voice lacked her usual playful affection. She had to be extremely mad if he wasn't being coddled this time. Steeping forward, he unconsciously gulped. "Do you have anything to offer? A reason as to why our clients had to be gunned down like rabid dogs?"

"You know boss, we shouldn't be here for much longer..." Lehm suggested carefully. She held up one finger, silencing him immediately. Her cerulean gaze didn't leave Jonah.

The teen considered lying to cover her; the problem, besides his overall lack of skill with lying, was the sheer impossibility of crafting a tale which would fit the current facts. As much as it pained him, Jonah had to tell the truth. "Rock started it."

In the corner of his vision Jonah saw Rock snap her gaze to him angrily, a scowl on her features. As bad as it was, the glare had nothing on Koko. The pale woman swiveled her head over, locking onto the pigtailed girl. Along with her, the rest of the eclectic group stopped to look. She bristled at their stares.

"Continue" Koko invited, anything but friendly.

"One of the men here showed her his gun. She cut his arm off, and things went from there" Jonah explained briskly, uncomfortable with selling Rock out like this.

Wiley frowned, though he was far from the only one. "Was he threatening her?"

He shook his head. "Just showing off. It was fine until he actually pulled it out" the teen corrected.

"Where's the guy at?" Valmet took the chance to jump in, idly adjusting the grip on her Magpul.

In response he pointed to the side, not far away from where she was. From there, finding a body with a large gash across his chest and a missing arm was easy. Though Koko looked away to track her, Jonah dared not move, fearful of incurring more of her anger. When he saw Rock inching away, he carefully shook his head. It hurt to see her scowl hatefully at him like she did, but so long as she stayed there, stayed with them, then it was okay.

Valmet crouched over the man's body, examining his fatal injuries. When her gaze moved to the severed arm, she frowned. The limb was still faintly warm, rigor mortis had yet to set in. It made prying the pistol out of his grip easy, if unpleasant.

"This things an antique" she commented loudly for their benefit, rising to turn around.

"What kind of gun is it?" Wiley asked, beating the others by several seconds. Holding it in both hands, the woman adopted a thoughtful frown.

"Looks like a British Webley. Not sure which version it is though" she reported after a minute, lifting it up to show the others.

Lehm whistled. "Old school."

R glanced at Rock and paused; the girl had her attention fixated on the handgun, tracking every move Valmet made with it. He coughed, unsubtly getting everyone's attention. Jonah in particular tensed up, since she had the same look on her face as a short while ago.

"Rock" Koko said. The girl ignored her, staring intently at the weapon. " _Rock_ " she repeated sternly, this time catching her attention. She blinked, realizing she was the center of attention once more.

"Why's she doing that?" Lutz asked confusedly, frowning.

"No clue. To my knowledge she's never seen a revolver before" Tojo added, his brow wrinkled in thought.

"Did he do anything weird with it?" Mao glanced to Jonah for his question.

"Held it out with one hand" he replied. Lehm huffed as he pulled out a fresh cigarette.

"Maybe she saw it in a mo-" he suddenly blinked, the stick freezing in place.

Several pairs of eyes flicked to him, with the most important being his boss's. "What? What's the matter?" she questioned.

The leathery man stared blankly, appearing to have an epiphany. The cigarette fell from his limp fingers; he was powering to Valmet before it hit the ground. He stopped an arms length away and stabbed his open hand out. The woman was distinctly uneasy, but she gave him the gun without a word.

"Ugo, Wiley, grab her and hold her steady. Make sure she won't try to rush me" he commanded quickly, both men snapping to. The former jostled Jonah out of the way, as Rock gave both men a hostile look. Nevertheless they managed to box her in so she couldn't dash away, which she did not look pleased by.

"What're you doing?" Tojo was looking dumbfounded, along with everyone else. Ignoring him, the older man gestured to Jonah.

"Now, you come over here. Stand right about there" he pointed to a spot maybe a body's length away. The teen sent Rock a look before he walked over to the man, slightly grimacing.

Lehm was unconcerned with the veritable cloud of confusion he was generating, tuning out their puzzled looks. The older man focused on opening the Webley, tilting it down so its shells would fall out. He glanced over the group to make sure everyone had seen him empty the gun, yet he showed the empty cylinders around to be extra certain. Jonah looked at the casings on the ground, noting the size of the six bullets. When his attention returned to the man, he had the Webley flipped back.

"R?" he called, pointing the empty gun skyward. Jonah noticed how everyone had blank looks at his bizarre behavior, but he was taken aback by the intense stare Rock was giving the weapon.

"Yeah?" the Italian acknowledged, raising a brow.

Lehm sighed. "Tell me if this seems familiar to you" he said simply. His arm extended out to a one handed shooter pose, so the end of the barrel was pointed at Jonah's torso. Whatever problems the teen had stemming from having a gun aimed at him (empty or not) were forgotten.

Immediately both Wiley and Ugo cursed in shock. Both were frantically struggling to hold Rock in place as she tried to lunge, snarling with fury. The driver took a powerful kick to his leg which staggered him, almost letting the girl slip from his grasp. Without being aware of it Valmet and Tojo snapped their Magpuls towards her, both wide eyed at her antagonism. The two men's combined strength was enough to overpower the girl, forcing her to her knees. Only when the bespectacled man had her arms behind her back did she stop trying to attack, but the hate filled glare didn't vanish. Her furious eyes were locked onto Lehm, and flickers of what could have been the strange blue fire danced over her eye.

The former operator lowered the gun as he sighed once more, idly dropping the antique to the dusty ground. Jonah glanced to Koko, noting her wide eyed shock.

"So again, any of this ring a bell R?" Lehm asked, his voice tired.

The man in question gulped, turning to him with wide eyes. He wasn't the only one; Koko's sharp gaze may have been the most important, but she was far from unique at the moment.

"B-but, she doesn't..." R was unable to finish the sentence.

"Explain" Koko ordered crisply, narrowing her eyes.

Lehm reached for his smokes, craving a nicotine fix more than what was usual for him. "Roanapur. How we thought Jonah died."

Rock's thrashing nearly broke her free from the two men, who hurriedly pinned her down again. No one else had this trouble.

"Wait wait, hold on" Tojo waved his hands in front of him, "You mean to say Rock remembered that?" he demanded

"How? You said Ram wiped her memory" Wiley pointed out, holding onto the momentarily stilled girl. Slowly the rage in her eyes was fading.

"I was right there...wait a second" R looked away, his expression scrunching up in thought.

"She didn't say erased" Koko murmured, frowning herself. Lehm nodded as he lit his cancer stick.

"Maybe I'm wrong, but its possible she _does_ remember. Just the whatsit thingy the new freak of nature put on stops her from doing it. Its either that or she has a pathological hatred of revolvers" he shrugged. The look on his face as he took a long drag of the smoke was one of contemplative gratitude.

Jonah tuned out most of what was happening after the conversation, save for Ugo and Wiley letting go of Rock. He observed how she stood back up to brush the dirt off, alternating between looking annoyed and glancing at the discarded gun. The teen walked over to the weapon to crouch down, wincing in pain. Despite his leg he grabbed the Webley easily, considering grabbing the bullets as well but deciding against it.

"So, its possible she can remember everything" Valmet said carefully, looking to the others from affirmation.

"This is the part where I say amnesia doesn't work like that, but after seeing who made it happen, I'm willing to put a maybe on this idea" Tojo shrugged off defeatedly.

"That's great news! Right?" Lutz glanced around uncertainly. Jonah walked to Rock, watching how she tracked the gun in his hand and not him.

"Yeah. Except for the part where she killed a guy and ruined a great deal" Koko spoke up, her tone sliding back into anger. Instantly the goodwill evaporated.

Noticing he had his cigarette reduced to the filter already, Lehm shrugged and dropped it, drawing another at once. "Speaking of which, we should get out of here soon. We've wasted enough time as is."

Koko sighed. "They did put forty percent of the fee as a down payment, so I suppose its not a total loss. Still, from now on we're keeping a closer eye on Rock. I do not want to make a habit of this" she ordered.

Stopping an arms length away, Jonah offered the weapon to her. Rock stared at it for several seconds, narrowing her gaze. She reached out to pluck it from his hand, avoiding contact with him. The dancing lights down her arm were entirely expected, even if it drew anxiety filled attention from the others. Once the cannon was formed she turned to a direction no one was at, so to toss the Webley into the sky.

A yank brought the charging cannon up, and a single blue bolt hit the antique gun in mid air. It was destroyed instantly.

xXx

Holding facility, Riga outskirts...

Sergeant Bērziņš cursed as he ducked behind a wall, gunfire tearing up the spot he was a moment ago. The thirty year old non-com clutched his G36 tight (how he hated the chunk of plastic and its inability to offer covering fire), his mind racing to find a way out of his predicament. He checked the other side of the brightly lit hallway, seeing the frightened faces of Privates Edgárs and Grigori, both nineteen year olds shaking uncontrollably.

" _Reload!_ " he demanded loudly over the gunfire. Both of them, fresh faced trainees who had no business in a firefight, stared uncomprehendingly at him before obeying.

Things had been going well at the base, despite the two 'guests' being held there. Informally they were prisoners, but between their comfortable lodging and orders from on high, they barely qualified as such. Bērziņš' job had been to check up on the guard patrols, listening to Major Paslov play nice with politicians, keeping an eye out for any Neo-Soviet infiltrators, and wait for the Americans to pull their heads out of their asses to fetch them. The last had finally happened, an NSA convoy had landed at Lielrde Air Base with the intention of taking the inhuman girls off their hands.

That was supposed to happen, except a dozen plus commandos has slipped into their perimeter before they arrived, under the cover of a snowstorm. From there they had begun to eliminate the troops stationed there, one group moving steadily towards the main building while the other broke into the back. Twenty minutes had gone by since the first shot was fired, and now easily half of the company sized garrison was either dead or dying. He had a squad's worth of troops to hold the building when he started, now he was down to two.

Bērziņš reloaded his rifle, cursing the gun for being a piece of shit, cursing the base commander for posting regulars instead of the Special Tasks Unit, and especially cursing the Americans for taking five months to retrieve two girls, while the fascists pretending to be communists rattled their sabers across the border. All these supposed preparations, and in the face of a couple units of enemies they were folding like wet paper. The non-com knew his military would become the laughing stock over this incident, and he looked forward to punching anyone who made fun of his nation. Assuming he lived of course.

" _Get ready to move. We're falling back to the armory, no more pissing around. Understood?_ " he commanded. Edgárs and Grigori shakily nodded.

Bērziņš mentally insulted the kids and went for his belt, very glad he had the foresight to grab a grenade in spite of regulations specifically ordering him not to. He pulled the pin and lobbed it around the corner, just like he practiced in Kosovo. The hostile gunfire let up a second before it blew, sending a buffering wave down the hall along with some debris.

Now covered, Bērziņš darted across the hallway, not stopping as he brushed past the kids. They obediently ran after him, at least sweeping their heads around for any new hostiles. The sergeant ignored them; he did feel bad about dismissing the kids, but with as green as they were, he couldn't count on them being useful. The best he could hope for was sticking the two on a machine gun and wait for reinforcements.

 _Two more days_ , Bērziņš thought ruefully. Two more days and he'd be on his way to the countryside, visiting his brother and getting plastered in his bar. Then all this would be someone else's problem.

Edgárs suddenly screamed, dropping immediately. Grigori and Bērziņš whipped themselves around, rifles up at the space the kid was a moment ago. One shot tore out the remaining rookie's throat, killing him immediately. The sergeant realized it was a high powered rifle just as the next shot hit him in the lower stomach, below his vest. He grunted in muffled pain as he fell. When he tried to fire back ( _to hell with the POS overheating_ he thought) a second shot hit the receiver, sending slivers of shrapnel into his hands.

" _Fuck!_ " he screamed. Despite his narrowing vision, he could see who it was that shot him; a medium height figure decked out in a thick white uniform with a ski mask, carrying a scoped rifle covered in white tape. It took Bērziņš a second to realize it was a western gun, just as two more similar figures appeared from the hallway the sergeant had tried to hold. Unlike the first, he recognized their white bodied rifles immediately. FN SCAR-H's, preferred tool of American special forces.

" _You sons of bitches_ " Bērziņš groaned, reaching for his sidearm. His hands felt like they were being dipped in boiling oil, but he ignored the feeling. It wasn't like he was going to survive this.

The first of the rifle carrying pair noticed he was still moving, raising their SCAR to him. Two booms were the last things he heard, having just begun to feel for his Glock.

Lowering the weapon, the shooter reached up to peel the mask off. Long brunette hair came free as she glanced to the M24's shooter with an annoyed frown.

"Steve, why'd did you even bring that?" Hex questioned laconically. Her subordinate shrugged as he replaced the gun's tiny magazine.

"Needed the range boss" the discharged Ranger replied flatly. The last companion snickered.

Hex sent a scowl at him too. "Connely, don't need any lip from you." Even from behind the mask, she knew the former Recon Marine was smirking. "Now lets move."

Taking point, the CIA operative raised her rifle as she powered down the hallway. In her ear the radio chattered, telling her what the six men of hers outside were doing. Thus far they were running interference, distracting the guards from her real objective. Checking her watch, she noted with satisfaction they were still ahead of schedule.

Not all of the guards were occupied however; another Latvian soldier burst out from a door with a shotgun in hand, discovering the trio a few feet from him. Hex and Connely both fired once, knocking the man back to the doorframe with a splatter of blood. While they killed him, Steve took aim and fired, dropping another man at the end of the hall.

The woman ignored the dead, pushing on to the main holding area. She felt no regret for killing them, it was just poor luck on their part to be in her way. Recalling the floor plans Nigel provided her, she steadily moved to where her objectives had been effectively living for the past six months. Steve and Connely watched their flanks and six, both men possibly thinking up new ways of ribbing each other over rivalries which had long ago ceased to matter.

Hex suddenly paused, frowning. "Do you hear that?" she softly questioned. They were close, another turn and they would be within hearing range of the Witches.

"Yeah, sounds like music" Connely confirmed.

"Do we proceed?" Steve asked her.

The option to turn back flitted across her mind; none of her men had died yet, only a couple were even injured. If she had to, she could arrange things so it looked like a repelled Neo-Soviet commando raid. It would put the nails in the coffin for the opposition in the three Baltic countries who would let the Russians roll over them, leaving all three (and maybe more) firmly in the Western camp. It just might be enough to make the NUSSR back off. The option remained.

"Move up, watch your corners" Hex commanded, stalking forward with her SCAR leading the way. The option was there, but politics wasn't her mission here.

A sign in Latvian was the marker to the secure containment block, one which probably warned passerbys to bug off unless they had business there. If it wasn't enough, a set of thick steel bars out of a prison sealed off the section. It did anyway; Hex stopped at the sight of a large circle in the bars, each end piece showing scorch damage. The rest of the bars were on the floor, scattered where they fell.

"Boss..." Steve warned.

Hex took a second to check out the tips, noting uneasily how clean the cuts on them were. An industrial blowtorch could do this, but not this fast or with so little residue. Looking at the others, she suddenly realized the angles of all the cut bars were different. Like they were sliced with a-

 _Shit,_ she thought. Aloud she ordered, "Stay here, if I yell run, you run. Don't wait for me, and whatever you do, do _not_ look back. Understand?" as she brought her rifle back up, ducking through the circle without checking on them. Steve cursed in alarm, but she ignored him.

Once she took a turn, Hex's movements slowed to a crawl. She wryly thought her instructor back in Ranger school would ream her over going on alone, especially if her guess was right. At the same time, she knew it was the best call. If she died her cell would be hurt, but it wouldn't be a crippling loss. Losing two good men, even if they had records of excessive violence, would be worse.

The hallways in this area were much cleaner than the rest of the building, the paint brighter as well. In addition, it was much warmer. Waves of heat threatened to distract her, but she didn't let them. Too much was riding on her to let something so petty grab her attention. Sweeping the SCAR's barrel around, she searched for a target or her objectives. She saw no one.

Coming up to a door, she paused. Recalling the plans, she knew this one would take her into the inner sanctum, a series of rooms renovated for the Witches's comfort. A gilded cage, where they would be safe from people who wanted to exploit them, like her. As she reached for the handle, she suddenly stopped, her spine tingling. Hex drew back, aiming her rifle at the door.

Seconds later the door was blasted off its hinges, flying to the opposite wall with a tremendous crash. On the other side, a gasping single figure scrambled off the thick metal barrier. Tracking the short individual, Hex's breathing picked up.

She, definitely a she, wasn't very tall, a head shorter than the brunette. Her clothes consisted of a thick bluish black windbreaker, shorts which went hallway down her thighs, thick boots, and set of headphones on her neck, besides her sable colored short hair. On one shoulder looked to be a patch of white fabric, showing a purple tinted pentagram. Two details especially betrayed what she was; the alabaster skin, and the purple eyes. Eyes with a peculiar gear pattern.

There was a third detail Hex noticed after a second, an elongated weapon in her hand. It was a strange blend of a sword and a rifle, styled so it resembled a cutlass. It reflected the lights above off its steel toned blade. For anyone else, she would assume it was a fake.

"Black Matagi" Hex said softly, watching how the panting girl snapped her wild gaze to her. The gunblade was pointed at her instantly, the barrel trembling.

Plenty of trepidation was in Hex as she carefully lowered her SCAR, leaving her at the girl's mercy. Raising one hand from the gun made her jerk the weapon to the limb, shaking in terror.

"Its okay, I'm not going to hurt you" Hex spoke, like she was talking to an animal or a small child.

 _What has her so spooked?_ she asked herself. The Witch looked absolutely terrified.

Something cracked from the door she escaped from. Black Matagi, half of Hex's mission, snapped her gaze to the door, bringing her weapon to bear. Hex brought her rifle up, wondering what it could be.

There was a tiny whistle of an object flying through the air, then Black Matagi suddenly gasped, jerking back. To the agent's shock, it was a length of thin silvery metal sticking out of her chest. The gunblade fell from the girl's limp grasp, as her legs gave out. She collapsed onto her knees, staring numbly at the doorway.

A new figure strolled out from the door, walking at a sedate pace. Hex watched numbly as the girl in white and red, with tiny curved horns sticking out from her head, made her way to the fallen girl. Stopping before her, the horned girl placed her hand on the Witch's head, and a flash of light shown from her palm. Black Matagi's expression was one of both fear and shock, unchanging as her body dissolved into glowing ash. In seconds there was nothing left of her but stirring dust.

The horned girl was still for a moment, hand outstretched to where the vaporized girl's head was. Lowering it slowly, she sputtered out a strangled gasp, jerking her head away.

"Oh my, gah" she dropped her head as she planted one hands on her hips, the other idly shaking with a large object in her grip, something Hex overlooked for obvious reasons. It was a large circular piece of black metal, with numerous teeth studded on the edge. From what she could see, the saw had splatters of red on the weapon.

She picked her head back up, she sighed sorrowfully as she glanced to the tiled ceiling. "I thought doing it myself wouldn't be bad, but damn. That was rough" she clenched her eyes shut, shaking away her thoughts. "Anansi, I owe you an apology" she murmured softly.

Hex had her SCAR trained on the girl, who nonetheless took a few seconds to notice her. Seeing the large bore had no effect on her whatsoever; when the woman opened her mouth she raised a finger at her, letting her see the white greave on her hand.

"Just, gimme a second then we'll get down to business" she said distractedly, not meeting her gaze.

"Who are you? Why'd you kill her? And where's the other one?" Hex demanded anyway, uncaring of the inhuman monster's precious feelings.

The horned girl took a deep breath. "I guess" she muttered, turning to face her. "I do apologize, I'm usually not this down. But this" she jerked a thumb to the smattering of ash which was a Witch a minute ago, "Really hit me hard. Never killing anyone like this ever again, that for sure."

Upon seeing her hard glare, she pursed her lips. "Fine. In reversed order, the one called Dragon Slayer is dead. Her blood" she raised the saw blade up to show her. "Personal matter, involving a deceased friend of mine. Second, this was a bet between me and an associate. I lost" she said glumly.

"And you?" Hex questioned. She knew what this girl was, but everything about her was different from White Rock Shooter. Didn't mean she was any less dangerous.

"Me? You can call me Ram."

 **H̴ex̴ ̕theme͠:** ҉ **G͏et̸t̀in̴g̛ A̢̭͔͔͈͈̫͕w̹̟͇͘ͅa̤̱̦͝y̘̥ ̞͠͠W̶̠̲͓͘i̥̼̰̻̪͍̫̩ţ͏̜̻h** ҉̫̖̼̖ **̷͏̡̜̦̠̼M̸͇̠̘͘ų͚̯̻r͔͕̝͇̪d̸̵̰̻͞e̯̤̺̱̪r̖̬̗̖̬̬̥͘ ̣͍͕̩̼̫͘̕͡-̢̖̕ͅ ̷̴̱͟P̣̯͚̲̘̬͟a̧̝͕͕͕̲̞̱N̷̷̩̜̜̹̥͈̪̜̱͔͍̟̝ọ̷̶̫̟̤̹̼͚̫̮̤̩͉̙̭̤̳͝͝ͅ ̡̩̱̙̟̞̳̞̦̬̟̘̙̼̥̥̗͙̀͘͘͝w͝͏̶̪͍̞̮̕h̲͉̮̦̼̳͖́̀a̢͞͠͏̵̟̙͖͔̰̤ͅt** ҉̵̴̧̡̳͙̩̬͉̥̣̥̣̗͍͓͔̗͉͓̣ **̶̛̻̜̺̦̫̘͔̖̙̲͖̹͞ͅh̷̢̛** ҉̗̝̻̤͍͙̲͈̼͔́ **a̝̗̳͚̠͍͕͙̯͇̠͢͜͝v** ҉͕͕̻̘̘͙̜̩͖̝͈́͜ **ȩ͏̨̜̝̙͍̠̭̯̱̜̙͢ ̡̢̱͖͔̼̞̜̟̬̱̖͍͉̠̀ͅy̧̪̹̯͇̯͇͢͠o̟̦̱̼̻͓͔̙̣̝͈̣̣̩͚̫̭̕͟u͏̶̶̱͓͙̪̘̘̜͓̝͚͈̤̻͇͕͘ͅ ͘͏̵̧͎͚͙̼͖̗̘̭̩̦͕͚̩͟d̛͍̯̼̥̬̻̘̝̩͝͠ͅơ̸̡͚͓̻̪̙̘͚̘̗͉͠͡n̷̨͔͓̦̦̲̫͔̞̪͇̘̭̘̗̘̞̕e** ҉͝҉̵̙̖̫̩̮̩͈̭̬̲̝̻͉͖̼ **!̛̀̕͞͏̰̱̮̳̫̩̯͈̮̩͔͚**

xXx

 **A/N: Credit for the Latvian section goes to Admiral Fatass, and a shoutout too while I'm at it. This part wouldn't have been possible without you man.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Essex, United Kingdom, one week later…_

Humming to the tune coming from the small speaker, the former bersaglieri trooper busied himself with the task in front of him. If the weather was cooperative, he would have gone outside to work on his new hobby, enjoying the bright sunlight and pleasant wind. But alas, winter hadn't entirely relaxed its harsh grip from this part of the world, and if the forecast was accurate, it wouldn't for some time yet. Until the cold finally vanished, he had to content himself with staying in his suite. Which was warm and cozy, vastly preferable to the murderously freezing wind outside.

The task R had set himself to since he returned from Africa five days ago was in front of him, on the desk he used now and again for bookkeeping or weapon tending. He had cleared it of everything before he started; right now it was almost totally covered in stuff. Repair tools, his laptop, a stack of note paper, three pens with different ink apiece, and a pile of parts which was a deactivated weapon several days ago. The jewel of the chaotic mess was a repair manual from WWII obtained from a mail order publishing company in America, which served as his guide for his task. All for one result.

His goal was nothing less than returning the Thompson SMG he 'liberated' from the emptied SSI base to working order.

While seemingly simple, the reality was proving to be difficult, far more than R expected. Restoring a heavily obsolete seventy year old firearm to working order took more than just enthusiasm, it called for a huge investiture of time and effort he was rarely willing to give. It didn't help that the weapon was plainly deactivated, as he discovered the moment he cracked the gun open. Even if/when he succeeded, the end result wasn't going to be used for anything serious; its sheer value meant taking it into the field was borderline sacrilege, never mind now it had no ability to compete with anything else in their arsenal. Optimistically it would stay either at the HCLI property or on board the Atlas, there for bragging rights and little else.

Still, R had committed himself to getting the old Thompson to work again. As he busied himself with making notes of what parts worked versus what didn't while checking the old American Army manual, he was occupied with making estimates of money and work he was going to need, scribbling seemingly random numbers when needed. Some parts he'd be able to buy at a cheap price, while others he would either have to shell out a pretty penny or try making a replacement himself. Idly he wondered what the reaction would be if he were to take the functional weapon along for a deal anyway, for mafia especially. The metal image made him chuckle, no matter how implausible it was.

R's thoughts came to a halt when he heard a rap on his door. Twisting around in his chair, he was surprised to see he forgot to shut the door before busying himself with his new hobby. He was far less surprised to see who was standing in the frame, one curled fist a few inches from his door.

"Hey Jonah" he greeted cordially, reaching out after a second to turn his bluetooth speaker off. "What's up?"

Lowering his hand, the teen (clad in a thick hoodie and jeans) hesitated before speaking. "Are you busy?"

"Well…" R glanced at his Thompson, shrugging after a second. "Ah never mind. Come on in" he invited with a small wave.

Jonah obediently walked inside, looking around the sparsely decorated room instead of meeting his gaze. The behavior set off alarms in R's mind, much more so when his red eyes landed on the table.

"What're you working on?" he asked, more hasty than usual.

Pushing his chair away from the mess strewn desk, R shoved aside his unease to show off his project. "Remember the gun I grabbed in South Africa? The Thompson? I'm repairing it."

The teen met his gaze at last, curiosity in his gaze. "Why?"

"Decided I needed a hobby. Took stock of my life and realized I don't do much else but work and drink, so why not. A lot of those lifestyle magazines advocate these kind of things, so I figured I'd give it a try." he spared a wry smile at the disassembled weapon and its chaotic nest. "Plus, how often do you find an antique like this? It's a shame the Webley got destroyed, would've been nice to have one."

"So you want to fix this?" Jonah asked, gesturing to the desk.

"Yep. This one was US Army surplus, they officially retired these back in the forties, but what I want to do is make it like a prewar Chicago Typewriter. Kinda thing you see in old gangster movies" he elaborated, pointing to his manual to help his point.

"Neat" the teen agreed with a bland nod. If he was anyone else, R would have been vaguely insulted at his lackluster response.

"No kidding. This thing will be a beauty when I'm done with it. So, you finished stalling?" he casually asked.

Jonah looked away from him, his dusky skin unable to mask the flush in his cheeks. The teen shifted his weight from one foot to the other, mustering all of his courage to speak to the older man. It only increased R's curiosity; what had the stoic child soldier so worked up?

"How…how do you…" the teen mumbled the rest of his question, the end result intelligible to the Italian.

"Hmm?" Jonah opened his mouth, but clamped it shut quickly, grimacing at whatever was going through his mind. The man didn't try pushing him, knowing it was better to wait on him for circumstances like these.

Finally Jonah sputtered out a sigh, dropping his head. "How do you…how do you get a girl to like you?"

R stayed exactly where he was, his only movement being blinking and breathing. He stared emptily at the firmly blushing teenager, revealing nothing. The one thought running through his mind was a plea to the Lord he had never been devout to, never more than the minimum society expected of him.

 _No, no, please not me._

It finally dawned on R that he was staring at the teen, who was still waiting for an answer. Clearing his throat, he hurriedly averted his eyes to the half disassembled Thompson. Jonah clasped his hands behind his back, red in the face at R being caught flatfooted. For his part the man was busy cudgeling his brain back into working order, thinking desperately of a way to word his response.

"Um…" R trailed off, cringing at his lack of effort. "What brought this on?" he asked at last, grimacing at how pitiful he sounded. His sole consolation was seeing Jonah in no better condition.

"I…I've been thinking for a while now. She…" he looked shyly at the distinctly unnerved man, who had the same expression as him.

"Rock?" R got out quickly, and was rewarded with a fast nod. He assumed the girl in question was her, though it never hurt to be sure.

"Right. I, um…" Jonah looked away instead of continuing, his cheeks turning an interesting shade of red.

It took R several seconds to think of a response more complex than a griping 'why me' to give to him. An epiphany hit the former bersaglieri trooper; it wasn't the smartest solution, and it betrayed a level of cowardice the squad would rib him for endlessly. Nevertheless, it was a way out of this situation.

"Look Jonah, I know this is important to you and all, but I have to ask, why'd you come to me? I'm not exactly a good role model here" he remarked with far more composure than he expected to have, almost calm in fact. The teen took a deep breath, hesitantly looking him in the face.

"You weren't my first choice, but I don't know anyone else to ask this" he admitted. Internally R noted this was another thing he should have felt some indignation at, if he didn't agree with him entirely.

Frowning, he ran through his mental list of contacts and confidants. The resulting tiny list caused him to quietly groan. "You know, why don't you try Mao? He's happily married."

"Left an hour ago to visit them, didn't have time" Jonah replied, shifting to one foot. The flush in his cheeks had decreased some, though he still qualified as 'beet red.'

"Okay" R nodded, internally screaming. The former artilleryman was his best bet. "Could try Lehm. He managed to get hitched several times, he has to know something."

"To the same woman each time. Plus, I think Rock killed Chiquita back in Roanapur" there was a flash of anger across his face, a split second disruption of his otherwise continual embarrassment.

R worked his jaw for a second, looking away in thought. Another pertinent thought occurred to him, this one less likely to save him from this quagmire.

"You haven't told Koko anything about this?" the moment he mentioned the pale woman there was a noticeable spike of worry on the teen's face. "I won't tell her a thing, promise" R said quickly, bringing his hands up. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"I don't want her to know" he said, pausing when the man shook his head.

"I get it, don't need to tell me. So…" he looked away again, wrinkling his brow in thought. In the end R sighed, dropping his head to shake. "Okay, I'll be honest" he picked back up to meet the teen's eyes, sorrow written all over him. "I don't really know how I can help you."

As much as Jonah's betrayed expression hurt him, R couldn't do anything about it. "I mean, I get what you want. If you were after a one night stand or a girl in a port situation, then sure. All's I have to worry about is Koko blowing a gasket at me for 'corrupting' you or something, which is admittedly terrifying" he shuddered, already dreading whatever hypothetical punishment the little lady would inflict upon him. "But that's not the goal, right?"

"No" Jonah said with an empathetic nod.

"Something stable. Um, okay I'll just say it. Most of my 'what to do guide' is how to have a fun night and get away safely. This is kinda out of my league" R admitted, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Jonah's crestfallen look made him sigh. "So, I really can't help you much. Sorry."

The teen took a deep breath, looking away. A few emotions flashed over him, prime amongst them disappointment. "Alright. Thanks anyway" he murmured softly.

An imaginary lightbulb flicked on above his head, and R snapped his fingers before Jonah could leave.

"I got it" dim hope flashed over the teen, "Try Valmet" he suggested enthusiastically.

His grin died when Jonah quickly shook his head. "She can't keep a secret from Koko."

"Point…" R agreed sourly, but he brightened up anyway. "Still, I think Valmet is your best option. She's in a stable relationship, that's a mark in her favor."

"With another woman" Jonah countered with a frown. Despite his down expression, R could see the gears in his head playing with the possibility.

"It's a good thing actually. She has perspective on both sides, hard to beat that" R went on cheerfully, brightening up considerably.

Before he could go on, R dug into his pocket for the phone. Jonah's eyes widened in alarm when he saw the man start to call, causing him to hurriedly hold up a hand.

"Relax, I won't tell her about it, I'll just ask her to get over here" he told the teen placatingly, bringing the phone to his ear. Jonah continued to silently protest, but it was clear nothing short of physical harm was going to stop him.

Pointedly ignoring him, R hummed tunelessly until the line clicked. "Hey R."

"Hey Valmet, you busy right now?" the Italian asked cheerfully, giving the red faced teen an encouraging look.

"Sort of, I'm driving back from the store with Koko and Rock" she answered, a distinctive giggle audible over the line. R couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"That's great. Listen, there's something big I need your help with" he went on brightly.

"With?" she asked, making him smirk.

"Can't tell you over the phone, come to my room and I'll tell you" he said conspiratorially. The phone was silent for several seconds.

"You do remember how this played out last time" the woman said flatly. R's smile dropped immediately, alarm almost causing him to jump from the chair.

"No nono! Not like that, at all! I swear" he pleaded into the phone. Out of the corner of his eye, Jonah was giving him a dry look.

"Then what is it?" Valmet inquired, revealing nothing. Suppressing the memory of the last victim he witnessed her take out, R pressed on.

"It's something personal. I really can't tell you over the phone" he said, sparing a hopeful look at Jonah.

Valmet groaned. "Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes. But if this is what I think it is, you know what'll happen to you."

"Understood, I promise it isn't" he said quickly, ending the call.

His hand dropped, a shudder working through him. A mental image of a knife sticking through his palm raced through his mind, though cynically he knew she wouldn't stab his hand. Her target was going to be lower. Nevertheless, he cracked a wry smile to a very uncomfortable Jonah.

"See? That simple" he told him, terrified and doing a poor job of hiding it.

Ten minutes and thirty two seconds later, Valmet was in the door frame, wearing thick jeans with an even thicker sweater. The one eyed woman interrupted R and Jonah as they cross checked the several guides at the former's disposal, the latter blankly nodding periodically. Both looked to her, with two entirely different levels of nervousness.

"You called?" she asked blandly, offering the teen a smile. Jonah stood up straighter, unable to hide the anxiety he was feeling. R backed away from the desk and smiled unconvincingly.

"Okay, minor thing. I…omitted several details" he shyly admitted, shrinking back when her brow narrowed dangerously at him. To save himself, he jerked a hand towards the teen. "He's the one who needs help, not me." At that Valmet raised her brow questionably, making Jonah blush. That alone grabbed her full attention.

One minute of stutter prone explanation later, the chilled Finn was nodding neutrally, while R offered a placating shrug.

"So, yeah, that's the whole thing" he concluded carefully, sneaking a glance at the open door.

"I see" Valmet said softly, nodding in thought. When she looked to a red faced Jonah, she frowned. "Why him?"

R winced uncomfortably, but ultimately he couldn't disagree. "I wanted Mao's help, but he left earlier. I thought he" he gestured to the Italian. "Knew best."

Valmet reined in her impulse to scowl at the lecherous ex-soldier, stopping only because she knew he understood how narrow of a margin he was saved by.

"So, you want my help asking her out. Um…" she looked away in thought, aware of the teen shifting his weight from foot to foot and the man going over his chances of escaping.

Finally she shrugged. "Sure. I am going to tell Koko, but not for a while" she hurriedly added upon seeing his alarm.

As both males sighed in relief, a smile came over the woman. "Actually, I think I got the perfect idea."

"What?" Jonah asked quickly, sparing an apologetic look at R for interrupting him.

"On the way back Koko mentioned a meeting with Trohovski in Marseilles, something about a merger. Its right on the Mediterranean, and from what I hear winter there is very mild. Nothing like here" she finished with a waved hand towards the window. While they had occupied themselves the wind had died down, but the temperature was still firmly below freezing.

"Romantic date in France. Sounds perfect to me" R agreed brightly, as Jonah tipped his head thought.

"Yep, its better than Paris right now. Even if it wasn't snowing there, I heard there's a military parade in a few days. Not the best place to have a date" she said, making idle movements with her hands.

Jonah took a deep breath. "Thank you" he said softly.

"Don't thank me yet, I'm going to have to chaperone you" Valmet smirked playfully, causing R to chuckle and gently rib him.

"You lucky dog" he congratulated, happy for the teen and happier he dodged a bullet.

xXx

 _Camp Humphreys, South Korea…_

It was mesmerizing in a way. Watching the length of silvery…stuff (she didn't know any other way to describe it) move and bend on its own accord, or to be more precise, to the girl's whims. Beginning as a small silvery ball, it elongated out as a tentacle into open air. Though appearing metallic, the way it moved was more like water, if water was given a measure of sentience. She thought of the second Terminator movie, her favorite of the series, as it coiled around to the silent orders of the inhuman being.

"Like it?" Ram asked, smiling as she made it twist and turn to random patterns.

Whatever interest Hex had for the thing was smothered by her entirely justified foul mood. Her off the books mission was completely wrecked, a being more dangerous than a gigaton yield nuke had showed up almost literally out of the blue, and she got relocated to a political powder keg. Her sole consolation was knowing all her men were safe, transported to safety by the same way she arrived in Korea. All the horned girl did was wave her hand, and a greasy black portal opened beneath her feet.

Hence how she found herself on top of a five story building, sitting Indian style with the SCAR's stock between her legs and the rifle resting on her shoulder. An unwilling audience to a being who should have had more maturity than an college freshman.

"Liquid metal, responds to the telepathic signature of whoever its connected to. Designed as a controllable bull whip" the thing appearing to be a teenager explained while she played with it. 'This thing actually belongs to my twin sister, she let me borrow it for my goal. Wanted me to do some violent and, well, disturbingly sexual things to Dragon Slayer with it. Ended up just using the thing to restraint her while I took the saw to her torso."

Hex sat in place, watching the impossible happen and finding herself not caring. Little stuff such as watching the snow evaporate away before it fell on either of them, in a five meter radius bubble. The temperature inside the micro-environment was warm, but not so much for her thick clothes to become sweltering.

The liquid metal curled around Ram's arm, wrapping itself in order to encase her limb. Once it was covered, she put both of her hands up to pose like a boxer. "I want to say she's fallen in with a bad crowd, but its not my bosses are any better. They aren't as narc-"

"Are you done yet?" Hex snapped.

The girl paused, facing away from her. Around her arm the coiled metal retracted, sliding back into the silver ball. Ram stood up straight, taking a second to crack her neck.

"Mostly. This is half me taking my mind off the other one, and half being happy for the first time in a while" she said distantly.

"For killing two Witches" Hex stated flatly. She held little fear; if this thing wanted to kill her, it wouldn't have taken her from Riga to here.

Rather than answering Ram waved a hand in front of her. A black sphere obediently appeared, this one the size of a basketball. She stuck a hand inside for a moment to withdraw a tiny object, snapping her gloved hand once it was in her grip to make the miniature portal vanish. The silver whip extended out to take the object, then reached out to the woman to stop in front of her. Hex waited for a second, but evidently Ram wanted her to grab, so she snatched it from the thing.

It was a slip of thin paper like stuff, but when she flipped it around Hex discovered it was a photograph. Turning it around, the hardened agent couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Ram was in the picture, grinning wildly with another smiling girl. It took her less than a second to realize the green haired girl was a Witch too; the eyes gave her away, even though both girls were wearing sundresses. The horned girl's was white, while the other one had a green dress.

"The second girl in the picture? Her name was Bael" Ram offered plainly, waving a hand at a spot on the roof; the mushy snow evaporated instantly, leaving it dry as she sat down to face her.

She needed several more seconds for the background to click.

"Is this Disneyland?" Hex questioned in surprise, snapping her head up to the girl. She had mimicked her own pose, resting her elbows on her thighs.

"Disneyworld, Orlando Florida. Bael really liked that place, even if some thugs tried mugging us the last time we went there. Its been almost twenty six years since I was here" Ram said softly, lightly shaking her head.

Lowering the picture, Hex raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Wanna know something funny? Long time ago, I used to be a real downer. I thought emotions were a plague, was nihilistic like you wouldn't believe, and so manipulative. Well" she grinned mirthlessly as she rolled her magenta eyes. "That last part is still true anyway."

'Compared to now?" Hex questioned, giving the unmarked photo another look.

"Then I met her. At the time I thought Bael was this weak fool, who was stupid enough to revel in the things humans enjoyed. She wasn't like the rest of us, keeping her attention on the big picture. But she showed me things. Bael taught me little things, the sort of stuff that gets forgotten about or ignored in these big universe altering schemes we're usually up to. She showed me there was more to life than the goal" Ram spared a look to the grey sky. "Pardon the irony, but its thanks to her that I'm as human as I am."

Silently Hex held the photo back, only for her to errantly hold up a hand. "Keep it. I have more copies."

"What happened to her" Hex asked uninterestedly, methodically tearing the picture into scraps. She was at the girl's mercy, so there was nothing to do but wait for her to stop rambling.

"Dragon Slayer happened" she took a breath before proceeding, dropping the smile. "Bael went to Otherworld to investigate some weird activity. Turns out it was just a refugee from a destroyed world. Not the first, wasn't the last. The mission was about as by the book as it gets."

"And?" she prompted, scattering the paper away. The horned girl didn't look like she noticed.

"Bael stopped to sightsee. She liked doing that, like seeing the things the rest of us, enforcers and superiors both, tend to ignore. When she was distracted, Dragon Slayer jumped her before she could do anything. She tortured her, killed her, and crucified her. In that order" Ram's hand clenched into a fist; there was a rumble in the building below them both. It could have been an earthquake, or she could have caused it. "I've been waiting a long time to kill the bitch. As luck would have it, just as I'm taking on a new project, I find out where she's been hiding. Couldn't resist" she chuckled mirthlessly.

"Explains that" Hex said dryly, leveling the blandest look she was capable of at her. She nodded.

"Black Matagi was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I needed to settle a bet, and she was the perfect one to try it on. Strange thing is if I didn't have context for the method, it wouldn't have bothered me" she explained, shrugging nonchalantly.

Hex sucked in a breath before speaking. "So where do I fit in all this?"

The way the horned girl smiled at her made the agent unconsciously bristle. "I want to make a deal with you."

"No."

Instantly she frowned. "Why?"

"I read this book. You're going to screw me over" Hex answered flatly. Ram opened her mouth to retort her, raising a hand (not the greave covered one fortunately) to stab a finger at her. But as she thought, the accusing finger withered as she looked away.

"You…are perfectly justified to think that" she reluctantly conceded. "Which book by the way?"

"The bible" she answered laconically.

"Narrows it down. Which one? You humans wrote a lot of bibles. Eastern Orthodox is my favorite, though I hate what some of the Czars did with it" she looked away to frown at something.

"Tell me I'm wrong" Hex challenged.

Ram pursed her lips. "Well, you are right to be suspicious of me, but I think once you hear me out, you'll change your mind."

"Give it your best shot" Hex offered, moving the rifle to her other shoulder. It crossed her mind to try shooting her; it most likely wouldn't work, but it beat dying on her ass.

"Simple. You do me a favor, I'll do you one. Quid pro quo" she theatrically waved her hands about.

"These favors are…" she trailed off dryly, largly still in comparison.

Ram smirked. "I want the one called Black Rock Shooter to die."

Hex mulled over her reply for a moment. "Why?"

"Its because-"

"Let me rephrase that" she interrupted, relishing the stunned look on Ram's face at the blatant move. "Why do you need someone else to kill her? If you're anything like White Rock Shooter, you could just glass the region she's in from orbit or something."

"I wasn't finished actually" she said sternly, creasing her brow. "I personally don't care at all about Black Rock Shooter, but my project requires White's help. I can't do that while she's stuck with Earth, so things need to be fixed. To be truthful, I need you to get White to kill Rock."

"How?" she asked, frowning in unhappy anticipation.

"You're fairly well connected. What drew White here before?" Ram asked with a wave.

"By turning her Insane" Hex stated, blinking despite herself. The armored thing didn't seem so tough from the view of an airborne Blackhawk, but after seeing the carnage and the remaining SEALs, men even she was willing to admit had skills, was enough to make her shudder.

"Yep. If it makes your job easier, I know the fool who worked her over when she was in Otherworld. She used a type four mental block on her, that series was phased out because of its astronomically high failure rate. Should make it easier, and you can bet White will be on her very quickly" Ram elaborated, her smirk returning.

Hex nodded in thought, her expression unchanging yet.

"Say I agree to this. What do I get?" she questioned.

"What do you want?" Ram asked coyly.

While she still had her doubts, Hex was willing to think it over. The selfless choice would be something like world peace, or eliminating all enemies of the United States.

But she wasn't selfless. Her selfless ways had died in the years following 2001, since that fateful day her life was torn asunder. When she saw how vile the world beyond her view really was, and what she needed to do to make a better place. Not for her, she had no place in the real world anymore, but for others. Those who would never know her loss.

"Koko Hekmatyr" Hex spoke, the scorn barely concealed.

"What about her?" Ram asked evenly. There was a difference in her tone which Hex picked up on, but it failed to change her perception of the girl.

"I want you to tear her empire down. Her money, her contacts, her precious team. I want them all gone. And her at my mercy. If you can do that, I'll make sure this monster gets destroyed." she told her.

"Can I do that" Ram mocked, rolling her eyes. "For a second I thought you were going to ask me something challenging, like making you the Queen of this planet."

"If you don't deliver, I don't care what you can do. I will hunt you down" Hex warned.

"Back at ya" Ram winked. "Oh, two more things. You have forty five days to do this, scheduling thing, and I'm leaving you a little gift. Consider it a faith payment." The inhuman girl extended her offered hand to the hardened killer. "Do we have deal?"

Hex knew the dangers. But the reward was too great to resist.

She clasped the Ram's hand to give it a hearty shake.


	7. Security Breach

_Secure compound, [REDACTED] Eastern Europe…_

"Okay, okay, lemme get this straight. You let the boss go on by herself. You saw steel bars that looked like someone cut with a laser, when the mission was to retrieve fucking Witches, and just one word by Hex makes you stay put with your thumb up your ass" Brian Hanover, the thirty three year old African American recounted with mounting frustration. Formerly of the US Navy, the ex-SEAL stared down the two men, who glowered right back at him.

"You tell the boss she can't do what she wants" Steve snapped, crossed his arms.

"If you were with us, you'd do the same thing" Connely agreed, testily sweeping his vision around the gathered room. Present were a dozen men, most of the CIA covert cell's combat trained personnel. All American, all ex military.

Two thirds of them had left several days earlier, for a risky unsanctioned mission to add a pair of creatures colloquially known as Witches to their operation. Half an hour ago, a black portal had opened up in the middle of the main conference room, and eight ex-soldiers in thick winter gear had tumbled out. Only one of their number was missing.

"I'm calling this in" Hanover decided. When he glanced around, there should have been at least reluctant agreement. Instead he saw a number of angry stares. "What?"

"The hell are we gunna say?" snapped a particular accented voice Hanover found grating, though not its owner; Robert "Bobby" Graves, a twenty nine year old ex-marine with a fair complexion to go with his deceptive thickness. "I main, fuck, what do we know huh? The boss just up'n vanished or sum shit?" the Kentucky native threw his arms up in frustration. Several of the men were nodding in agreement.

But Hanover was not going to be dissuaded. "We'll come up with something. Listen, I owe Hex just as much as all you okay? But we can't stay and twiddle our thumbs until she gets back-"

* **boom** *

Immediately conversation ceased. Each man paused to look around, searching for the source of the rumble. Connely lucked out, jabbing a finger at the cause. "Guys!"

There was a black spot hanging in the air, a glossy object the size of a marble. Both Steve and Connely backed away, grabbing for their holsters. Hanover already had his sidearm drawn; he was jokingly called "Quick Draw" by his squadmates, back when there were fifteen men instead of six. All the same, he backed away to give the object plenty of clearance.

The black dot swelled, the nascent portal quickly growing to the size of a car. It rose from the ground a half meter, then stilled. In the time it took to do that, there were eight handguns and four rifles trained on the fissure in reality. The number of pistols dropped as larger weapons were handed out, ranging from M4s to UMPs, with an M104 taking center stage. Each one had safeties off and fingers curled around the triggers.

If not for the extensive experience each men had, the first being to fall out from the bottom would have been shredded by a hail of gunfire. It stumbled into a crouch, one hand planting on the ground as it stifled a gasp. Surprise gave way to confusion, especially as a second figure gracefully landed behind her.

Groaning, the woman staggered back to her feet. While she grimaced in pain, the portal dissolved into black smoke which quickly faded into oblivion. Her rising body shielded the second arrival from view.

"Hex?" Steve was the first to recover, gawking in shock.

The special forces captain turned CIA black ops leader clapped her thickly clad clothes over, making a small cloud of dusty ash leave each time. Standing up straight, she glanced over the assembled men, most of which she recruited herself. "Gentlemen."

Connely was the first to raise a brow at the sheer incongruity of what was in front of him, complete with a succinct "The fuck?"

"Everyone here?" she asked blandly, looking them over while they lowered their weapons.

"Teller and Jesse are in the barracks. Hex, the hell is going on?" Hanover answered, gulping.

Hex smiled wryly. "Short version, I made a deal with the devil."

"What" Bobby half squawked.

"Longer version, I made an agreement with a Witch on the level of White Rock Shooter. In exchange for assisting in some high level political crap, she'll hand Hekmatyr to us on a silver platter. Literally if I wanted to. If I play my cards right, I can weasel another favor or two out of her" she went on, roaming her ordinarily normal eyes over the men. None saw any overt change in the orbs themselves, but the sheen was different. A spark of something unidentifiable.

But it was her smile, more than anything else, that put fear in the hearts of every man in the room.

"You…what" Connely sputtered, glancing to the others for any cue. A fruitless effort as it turned out.

"Brian, you're gonna love this and hate it at the same time" she continued with the same grin.

The ex-SEAL blinked, pointing a free hand at his torso. "Me?"

"Our mission is Black Rock Shooter" was her reply.

Brian Hanover, formerly a lieutenant in the US Navy Sea Air and Land team Squad Nine, nicknamed 'Night Nine', did nothing but level a stare at the woman who gave him a second chance. "Our mission" he repeated numbly.

Hex nodded.

"What we have to do is unleash her Insane form in a contained area, long enough for White Rock Shooter to put the bitch down once and for all" she explained, her voice reasonably subdued. The shine in her eyes on the other hand was not.

"But-" Hanover clenched his eyes shut and sucked in a pained breath, fighting the memories of the worst night of his life. The night which claimed the lives of many of his friends and shattered a distinguished unit, with nothing to show for their sacrifice.

The smile Hex sported grew, her eyes showing no trace of mirth. "That's right. We're going to kill her."

Steve edged to the side of the bewildered group, needing to see what was behind her. One look had him snap his weapon up, finger on the trigger despite his leader's proximity.

"Boss." The one word not only grabbed her attention, but the growingly uneasy mens as well. Hex's smirk didn't falter when she took one wide step aside, leaving the figure behind her in plain view.

It, appearing as a teenage girl, needed precisely one and a half seconds to find herself staring down a dozen weapons, each one capable of ending her. Instead of fear, Hex showed only malicious glee at raising a single hand at the Witch.

"Gentlemen, meet our faith payment" she introduced.

Clad in a sleeveless tank top with hot pants, the Witch had armor on both her legs from the knees downward and her arms, from the elbows to the claw tipped hands. The odd blue crown hanging lopsidedly on her head was rendered almost superfluous in comparison, almost as much as the uneven white belt. But it wasn't her outfit or her spiky twin pigtails of uneven length which caused the men to fear; it was her face which drew their attention.

"Her name is Black Rock Beast."

 **BRB Theme: Four Words to Choke on - Bullet For My Valentine**

Out of all of them, Hanover was the closest to losing control. The others had glanced to each other in bafflement; he alone had unbridled fury.

"Its okay Brian" Hex soothed, holding up a hand to him. Her restrained bloodlust faded as she stepped closer to him, placing a palm on his trembling arm. The man was hardly listening, his own expression fracturing.

"T-hats…" he could barely speak, fear and rage clouding him.

"Its not her" she said softly, just loud enough to let the words carry to the others. "I freaked out too, its just a coincidence."

"But-" he tried to protest. In response Hex gripped tighter.

"Its not her. That things just a tool, once this is over she'll go away" she soothed. Glancing to the side, Hex landed her eyes on Connely and Bobby. "Get everyone here as fast as you can. We have an operation to plan."

 **A/N: Okay, that's it for this one. I'm going to try something different this chapter, only putting down some thousand odd words then moving on. Just a̙̪ń̪̳̥͔͈̱͉-**

 **W̻̹̤a̳̣͖̭̖͕̘i̶͚̥̼t̴̪̗̥̮,̙̱̕ ̱̜̜͇̩̦͘h̻̯̜̫͎͘o̻̣͙̩͖̭w̩̜̪̰ͅ ̪̯d̷͎̗i̭̣̣̪͞d̡͚̣͉̬ ̱̯͍͉̙̙̖́y͔̼ó̗ų̭̮̟̻͖…̭̤͓ͅͅn̪̼̩̜̜o̜̬̳͍.̝͖͉̖ͅ O̰̠̻͎͖̗h̝͇̀ c̛̰͖͉r̢͎̼̹̲͈͖a̵̺̪̤̪̣a̪̙͡a̫͇͇͓̠̘ͅ-̶͕**

 **Ḡ̷̃̇̈́́l̵͑͗ͤ̃͊̌͐** ҉͜ **aͮͭ̋́͐͐̽̍̀ř̵̓̅̾͑̀̚͡b̃͂͢ gͪ̄̈́ͭ̏͟l̈́̉͏a̷ͤ͊r̛̛ͯͭ͗̇b̷ͣ͋͑̑̈́͐́͜ g̨̿l̨̅͊͑̎ā̵̢ͧ̂ͦ̂́ͥ̊̀rͬ̅̾̋̆̚͜b̒̄̌̅͊̓̏͆ͨ̕͟s̉̏ͭ͋̌̏͟a͑͊̋̎͌ͦͭ̃** ҉́ **v̨̎̓̈͞ê͋͂̀͡ g̓̒ͥl̈͆͂̆ͦ̑ͭ̂͡a̴ͬ̋** ҉ **rͨͭ͑̾ͦ̈ͫ͐͢b̛̄̍́ͩͦ͏̡ m̶̧̍̆̎̅̂ͥͧͤ́ë̇ͦ̏̑̀̆́͢͜g̡̐̀̽͆ͮ̽̑͌̀k̨̔̀͞a͗̎́̓̽̚͞r̶͐̽͒̎̈b̴̑̄̓͗e̴͑̈́́ͪ̏̌̇͑͟͡**

 **R/N; t̡̕h̵̶̸e̴̢r͝e̸͘ we go. two years since i last dropped in, and he has yet to update his security. lost in transition's ending, remember? you can say that im** _ **choosing for him**_ **, hehehe.**

 **while im here though, i hereby change my theme to** _ **flobots handlebars**_ **. i dont like dubstep, not my cup of tea.**

 **anyway, allow me to post what the author was too lazy to do. behold, the long awaited date between the pair you humans seem to like**.

xXx

 **R/N; the author has never been to france, much less the city the characters are currently in. because of this, assume any and all mistakes you spot here are purely his. the uninspired fool.**

Jonah was nervous. No, more than _nervous_ ; he was downright _terrified_. No matter how much he forced himself to stop, it proved impossible to bury the feeling of impending doom. After all he had been through, the paranoia felt entirely justified.

If they were in an American style car, Valmet wouldn't have been able to see him out of the corner of her vision without turning her whole head. As it was, since the rented Renault was reversed a flicker of her lone eye was enough to check on him. The teen was all but fidgeting, consciously stopping himself every few seconds only to start all over again. He knew he was drawing the Finn's concern, but he couldn't help himself.

In the backseat she sat, Black Rock Shooter duly ignoring the humans in front of her in favor of the window. The look of discomfort she sported earlier was muted now, which stemmed from her current attire.

Instead of her unsuitable wardrobe, she had thick pants, sweater, and a fleece lined jacket, complimenting a new set of boots. On her hands were an insulating pair of gloves, and finishing it all off was a beanie over her head, with her long pigtails spilling out to the sides. The only thing the clothes (bought for her by Koko) had in common with her preferred outfit was the color. From the cap to the boots, it was black with white highlights. Rock plainly hated the clothes, but it beat freezing in winters cold grip.

Outside the windows, Marseille was relatively impressive from where they were; with the bay in one direction and the snow covered peak of Mont Sainte Victoire in the other, it was awe inspiring. The artfully designed architecture of the city itself somehow managed to add to the view instead of taking away from it. Jonah was mildly impressed with the resort city when he read up on it. He found himself wishing more for the pictures instead of the snow coated skyline he was seeing instead however.

Valmet had been silent since they left the airport half an hour ago, parting from Koko with a quick peck first before taking off in a prearranged rental. The pale woman outwardly didn't show any care at the excursion, unless an encouraging wink at the teens counted.

With the tension radiating off of Jonah, the Finn felt the need to speak up. "We're almost there."

Jonah nodded quickly, spying Rock looking at her from the rear view mirror. The inhuman girl was unconcerned with what was going on; earlier she was totally unfazed when Valmet 'spontaneously' announced taking her and the boy along for a day in Marseille, away from the job for a while. The teen wondered if she picked up on his intentions, since even with the woman chaperoning them, she had to have at least suspected what he had planned (planned for him rather, since he was clueless about what to do).

A bump drew Jonah back to the present. The rental was easing into a large parking lot, Valmet carefully choosing an empty space to drive into. There were plenty in the recently plowed field of asphalt, and they ended up in one not far from an enormous building. A shopping mall.

"This is it" Valmet announced, putting the car into park and killing the engine. "Make sure you're both bundled up good, okay?" she said, unclipping her seatbelt.

Jonah had his off the second she stopped moving, though he only swung it away after she released her own. Rock needed a couple more seconds to get hers off, still a vast improvement over getting tangled in the belt a week and a half ago. The hoodie was already zipped up, so nothing else stopped her from going for the door handle.

When the cold hit him, Jonah reflexively shivered. Compared to some of the other places he'd been to, the wet chill wasn't anything to complain about. All the same, he was glad he opted for pants and an extra shirt with his hoodie today. Rock looked unhappy with the world outside the warm car, though she was weathering the damp cold admirably. In any case, the lack of visitors today meant the Renault was parked close to the wide entrance. Valmet led the way in, as he he followed close by the girl.

"Here we are" the woman announced, holding open the door for the two teens to scamper inside. There was a sign with the mall's name above the glass doors, in incomprehensible french.

Immediately inside, Jonah overlooked the food court area, spying several small restaurants and stores. For the moment he glossed over them, focusing more on the thin crowd of people. Upon thinking about it he mentally kicked himself, but recollecting on the recent spat of attacks lately justified his vigilance. Rock ignored the sights, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. Her nostrils were flaring.

Valmet walked in front of the two, briefly digging into the small purse she brought along for the trip. "Alright, here's some extra cash if you need it" she drew out a small wad of euros, which Jonah accepted without a word. He had several hundred on him anyway, but more couldn't hurt. "And we'll meet back here in, oh, an hour?" she asked.

"Sounds good" Jonah agreed, noticing Rock turning away in the corner of his vision. Preparing to get in her way, he was relieved when she didn't wander off.

"Okay. I know you know this already, but usual rules apply" the woman reminded, glancing deliberately at his waist. Jonah shifted his weight, feeling the holster rig underneath his thick hoodie rustle.

"Life, death, or Otherworlders" he recited blandly. She nodded, then smiled.

"Okay, have fun you two" Valmet said brightly, giving a small wave before she turned to walk away. A quick check on a sign showed her destination as a small jewelry store.

Turning to Rock, Jonah caught her rotating her head to him too. There was an expectant look to her blue gaze as she settled on him. He took a quick breath.

"Okay, let's…" the teen frowned in thought. "What do you wanna do?" he asked hesitantly. The girl shrugged indifferently.

The teen turned to a random direction, so she didn't have to see his faltering expression. He had no clue what she wanted or what she liked; food was the obvious answer, but there had to be something else. Jonah was painfully aware he was toeing through a minefield, one mistake could cost him everything. Making everything worse, the source of most of his fretting over the past week was a single question that he wasn't able to answer: _what did she want?_

With no real idea of what to do, Jonah set off. For a second he kept a slow pace, looking over his shoulder to confirm Rock was trailing after him. The look of expectancy on her features only increased his anxiety.

He seized the first potential option: a costume store. The romantic comedy movies Koko had him watch with her a while ago claimed women liked clothes; Jonah doubted it was the case, but he had such a vast lack of options in front of him. It couldn't hurt to try, and if nothing else he could use her behavior to judge his next move.

The teen needed a couple of seconds to discover the girl wasn't following him inside, that she had stopped out front. Quickly backtracking, he started to ask her what happened when he saw her intent gaze on the glass covered storefront. Curious, he glanced to the thing which she was staring uncomfortably at. He blinked; the dark blue corset, jean pants, and long coat outfit on the display mannequin were strange, yet eerily familiar. Just because he never saw the exact clothes on a person before didn't mean he failed to recognize it for what it was.

Looking away, Jonah cleared his throat to get her attention. "You wanna go in there?" Rock glanced to him neutrally, nodding after a second.

"Let's go" he waved to the glass door, holding it open for her to enter. Resisting the impulse to look at the mannequin again, he strolled inside. Why someone thought a Witch costume was a good idea was a question he would never answer.

Less than ten seconds later Jonah regretted going inside; in the corner was a small gaggle of teenagers his age, snickering as they posed for pictures with another costumed mannequin. Catching a snatch of their conversation, he discovered immediately they weren't French. The language was english; based on the accent, American, possibly Canadian. He knew their type well enough, knowing how much trouble they always brought.

Rock didn't pay them any mind, evidently occupied with the rows of stuff on the shelves. She looked over the rows of masks, outfits, and props of various types with her usual non emotive interest. Jonah felt relieved when she gravitated towards the clothes, so his guess wasn't a dud.

"Hey, there's one" a teen said, followed by footsteps coming closer. Jonah didn't want to turn around, but he knew how these situations worked.

Suppressing a sigh, he faced away from Rock to meet the stranger. The stoic teen was taking in details about the boy in front of him, many of which were already souring his opinion. Designer clothes, a confident smirk, and a swagger; someone with money and time to spare. The teen had little patience for the fool's breed, internally resolving to make this quick. Crossing his arms, Jonah leveled a flat stare at the fellow tourist.

"Yo, uh" the pasty skinned American trailed off blankly, diving into his pocket for a smartphone. Lifting it up to him, Jonah noted the model, mentally adding a hefty price tag to the device. Upon further thought, he realized he had little room to judge considering his own phone. "Siri, how do you say do you understand me in-"

"I speak english" Jonah interrupted. The teen blinked, a giant smirk coming over him.

"Oh sweet, wait" the gears grinding behind his eyes shifted, and his smile faded into a frown. "Well shit."

"Yo Derrick!" one of the tourists yelled, far more loud than what the relatively small shop called for. Both the teen and Jonah looked to the speaker, the latter making mental notes of the two others. Both of the teen's apparent friends were similar, with high dollar clothes suited for the cold outside and an evident self confidence in their body language. Appearance wise they had little in common; one was thick and dark haired, while the other was average but redheaded.

"Whaddya want?" Derrick replied, if nothing else keeping himself from shouting over the fifteen foot gap.

The thick one powered over to them, deceptively fast in spite of his bulk. "How long are you gonna keep fuckin around? We got shit to do" he demanded rudely.

"Shut up Fred, my dads paying for your fat ass to be here" Derrick countered. Behind them, the red haired teen was walking up to him, scowling at the one who accosted Jonah.

"So what? I didn't come here so we could hang out in a fucking mall" Fred snapped.

The redhead huffed. "You assholes remember why you brought me in the first place?" he snarked; the way he spoke was different from the other two. It wasn't British, South African or Australian, leading Jonah to suspect he was Canadian instead. He glanced to Jonah irritably, addressing him. " _Is this jackass bothering you?_ "

"English" Jonah corrected. The redhead swept his gaze to Derrick, scowling at him.

"You fucking retard" he insulted.

"Shove it up your ass Justin, I didn't fucking know" Derrick snarled.

Jonah loudly cleared his throat, catching the arguing trios attention. "What's the problem?"

"This jackass" Justin jabbed a thumb towards a furious Derrick, "Wants to get drunk, and was going to get you to buy him booze" he told him, causing the first teen to snap to him.

"What? No! I was asking for directions you cock!" he snarled indignantly, raising a fist at him. Fred rolled his eyes at the whole affair.

"Oh my god, this is the worst Euro trip of all fucking time" he muttered.

The flat look Jonah was giving them didn't look like it was registering, so intense was their squabbling. It did give him the excuse he needed to turn away, only to nearly bump into Rock.

Taking a hurried step back, he quickly composed himself before continuing. Oddly enough, Rock had a look other than boredom this time. He found out the source of it once he realized she had something in her hands: a classical style dress, like something out of the Victorian era (what he thought was Victorian anyway). Predictably it was black, though it had blue trimming. Rock held it up to him with an expectant look, flicking her eyes towards the cashier's desk on the other side of the tiny shop..

"You want this?" Jonah asked softly, reaching out to it only for her to yank it away from his hand. "I just need to see the price tag" he explained.

Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion, but when he brought his hand closer this time she didn't move. A quick check showed him the cost; the number of euros it went for was far smaller than he was expecting it to be, though by any reasonable standard the price was utterly ridiculous. He deliberated for a couple of seconds. "Sure."

" _Damn_."

Jonah swiveled his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. The three tourists had ceased their petty arguing, staring with wide eyes at Rock. One look at their overly appreciative expressions made him bristle.

"Almost worth it" Fred commented with an approving nod, Derrick silently agreeing in a similar way.

Justin adopted a smirk, a type Jonah recognized. When the teen began to saunter over to the girl, he stepped in front of him.

"Out of the way man, I'm on the prowl" the teen said, staring at Rock. The girl was starting to return to the clothes rack, but upon noticing the attention she glanced blankly at the redhead. It was nothing like the evident interest he had.

"No" was Jonah's reply. There was an emotion in the boy he was unfamiliar with, but it demanded that he attack the fool right now. Whatever it took to stop their smug advances on Rock. He reigned in the impulse, mostly.

Justin tore his eyes off the girl to level an annoyed frown at him. "Hey asshole, you're screwing with my vibe here."

"She's my-" Jonah hesitated. The Canadian was giving him a strange look, raising a brow. He took a deep breath, deciding to take the plunge.

"She's my girlfriend."

"Doesn't look like it" Fred commented, crossing his meaty arms. In contrast Derrick smirked, moving towards Rock anyway. Jonah started to intercept him, but when Justin moved he had to stop.

Behind them all, Rock looked to Jonah. The look on her face was inscrutable, but her eyes were focused on the dusky toned teenager alone, not so much as flickering to the approaching stranger.

"Well she is. Go find someone else to bother" Jonah lowered his arms, narrowing his eyes at the tourists. Justin in particular smirked, nonplussed at the hostility.

"Or what?" he asked coyly.

Jonah's hard gaze fell on him, making the teen shrink back. The pressure didn't last long, as Fred calmly approached him. Unlike his smaller friend, the thick teen wasn't bothered by the warning cues.

"He asked you a question" he said dangerously, fixating his ruddy gaze on the teen.

Derrick took the chance to touch Rock, attempting to get close. The girl slapped his hands away, but that only made him redouble his efforts to grab her. Jonah took his attention off of Fred for just a moment, intent on stopping him. The thick American saw his chance and threw a punch at the distracted teen; Jonah ducked out of the way, feeling the edge of the powerful fist feather against him.

Rock growled in anger. Before her attacker knew what hit him, a swift punch landed in his midsection, staggering him. Immediately following that was a quick barrage of fists, two hitting his chest again and the last impacting his throat. She hit hard enough to knock the fool onto his back, where he let out a strangled yelp.

Jonah lost any sense of patience. Before Fred could throw another punch, he dove for the inside of the hoodie. The big teen smirked, though at what he didn't know. When he reached for his pocket, Jonah didn't hesitate.

Justin was evidently preparing to enter the fray, but one look made him freeze. The smirk on Fred evaporated just as he yanked out his prize, a small knife. It seemed inconsequential in comparison to Jonah's Hi-Power, especially when the inside of the barrel was there for him to examine.

"Are you listening?" Jonah asked softly, feeling the out of place desire to ventilate the idiots. He heard Rock's breathing behind him, but refrained from checking on her just yet. Derrick pushed himself off the floor, groaning in pain. When he recovered enough to notice the situation, he turned deathly pale.

When all three teens were shakily nodding, he proceeded. " _Go away._ "

Clear, concise, and cold; Koko would be proud. Probably not, given how much she coddled him still, but it was a thought that gave him a moments pleasure anyway. The three turned to run, Fred bowling over the other two while he sprinted to the door. The pair recovered quickly to chase after him, instead of staying to face him down. Jonah replaced the gun under his hoodie, watching the last one half trip as he scrambled out. He bumped into an old man, stumbling him while he ran away. A loud " _Verdammte kinder_!" followed him out.

Despite the small enjoyment at forcing them to run, Jonah was more relieved he didn't have to flick the safety off, let alone chamber a round. Turning to Rock, he asked "You okay?"

Ruffled jacket and tussled hair was the only sign she showed of the ordeal, eliciting a sigh of relief from him. But one look at the curious expression she wore caused it to fade, anxiety taking its place when she reached into her pocket. Bringing up the phone, she activated it to tap something on the screen. In their off time Lutz and Wiley had taught her to use it once again; her typing speed was pathetic, and she was slow to use the device unless she really wanted to. Presenting the screen to him, Jonah read the one word she had written.

 _Girlfriend_.

Jonah was silent for several seconds, cheeks reddening at a fast rate. He averted his eyes from her, unable to come up with any sort of reply. The girl lowered the phone, adding a raised eyebrow to her inquiring look. Gulping, he decided to move on. "Let's buy that."

Momentarily puzzled at the laid back cashier (fortunately male) occupied with a magazine, Jonah gestured for Rock to hand over her dress. Finally looking up, the French teenager blandly looked over the odd pair, like he didn't just witness the boy drawing a gun a minute earlier. By the way he ran the tag through his machine, he quite possibly didn't. The display beside the register duly gave a sizable number, which Jonah promptly handed over a wad of euros as payment.

Credit side, his question of what Rock wanted was reduced. Not eliminated, but there were now options instead of nothing. He had something to go on anyway. Debit side, a new, exceptionally vexing question had taken its place. He saw her as his girlfriend, but did she see him as her boyfriend? It was easy to say the words, but whether the feelings behind them were there or not, he just didn't know.

Walking out of the store with a shopping bag in hand, he tried shoving the thoughts aside. To no avail; every time he checked on Rock the question occurred to him. Until it didn't, about the time when he saw her stopping in front of a store again. When he looked this time he sighed resignedly. Sweets were her greatest weakness.

 _One hour later…_

He spotted Valmet before she saw them, holding up an arm to catch her attention. The one eyed Finn abruptly changed directions to power over to the now seated pair, flashing them a smile as she approached. Jonah took a second to scrutinize the pair of large shopping bags she was carrying; he expected far more than just two. Rock glanced up from her food to nod at the woman.

"Hi there" Valmet greeted, sliding into the open seat, checking on them both.

"Hey. Find what you wanted?" Jonah asked banally, pushing a tray laden with food towards her. It was cheap fast food, but was better than nothing.

"Thanks. A few things, including some jewelry and clothes I think Koko would love" predictably a blush came over the woman, at which the teen was entirely unsurprised.

Her flush was temporarily suspended when she saw Rock, or rather the two trays in front of her. One was covered by crumpled wrappers and empty cartons, the other she was rapidly transforming into a new version. A look at Jonah showed he had a close copy of the trash laden tray in front of him. His sole line to her frown was a bored "Hungry."

"Uh huh…well, so long as you don't spoil your dinner" Valmet rationalized, picking at her own meal. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself, before giving up and shaking her head. "How about you? I hope you didn't spend all the money you had on you."

In lieu of answering Jonah reached by his feet, where he set the shopping bag. Aware of Rock's watchful gaze, he made sure every move of his was slow and deliberate. Opening the top of the paper like bag to her, Valmet peered inside. She let out a short whistle. "Very nice."

"She liked the dress" Jonah replied, replacing the bag at his feet. Politely refraining from asking how much it costed (just as he refrained from bringing up the tourists), Valmet subsequently tore into her food.

He waited for her to finish the unhealthy lunch, taking a second to see Rock polishing off the last of her super sized order. Where she put the three wraps, three sets of large onion rings, a medium sized sweet cake she silently pressured him into buying, a cookie, and an extra large chocolate shake was a mystery for the ages. More importantly, how she could devour that much food and still eye his relatively normal sized meal was beyond him.

Once she was down to the soda (Jonah guessed a Coke would work for her) Valmet glanced at her watch. "It seems we're on schedule. The film starts in about thirty minutes, so once you two are good we'll get going." she gave Rock a smile. "You like pirate movies?"

The girl's response was a blank stare. Valmet's smile ticked, briefly sucking a breath in through a crack in her lips. "I'll assume yes. I heard this ones supposed to be good."

Jonah didn't know for himself, given his lack of caring for cinema in general. Recalling the Star Wars marathon Koko put him through, or more correctly her reaction to his indifference afterwards, rarely failed to amuse him however. But whether Rock would like the moviegoing experience or not, he wasn't sure. He was getting tired of all the things he didn't know.

Jonah hardly paid attention to the next while, content with being close by Rock. The moderately long line, Valmet buying tickets for them, finding a seat, he glossed over everything. Everything except for the girl somehow finding room for a bag of candy and another soda, which a furtive look towards him and the uncaring people around them told the teen she had no intention of sharing. The one thing to bring him out of autopilot, and it was her bottomless stomach. He tried remembering if she was always like that, but he couldn't recall.

They ended up in the furthest row, with nothing behind the three except the back wall. Jonah spared a look at the projector booth, deliberately taking the seat next to Rock. Valmet fortunately placed herself on the opposite side of him, so it wasn't blatantly obvious what he wanted. Before the lights darkened he noted the theater was only half full; why so few people came to see the movie was a minor puzzle. Maybe it was because the film was terrible, maybe it had been out for a while, or it was just the time of day. He could say with certainty that it didn't matter to him.

Apparently fixated on the screen, Jonah did what he hoped was an excellent job of hiding where his attention lay instead. He was grateful for the gloom, since it made sneaking glances at Rock all the more easier. She on the other hand was resolutely staring ahead, idly devouring her candy then sucking down the extra soda Valmet bought. An automatic check on the Finn showed her making herself comfortable, making several different expressions at the few previews shown. No doubt she was already planning on getting Koko to see them with her.

Once the film proper started, the teen settled in for the long haul. Having forgotten to see how long the movie was, he was left with nothing to do but wait it out. Wait, and sneak looks at the girl. Presently she wasn't looking at him, and even if she was the intermediate darkness was more than enough to hide his peeks.

The opening credits passed, and the movie went on. The main actor was predictably enough handsome, even while filthy and clad in rags. As Jonah watched, the movie established the location as a old style prison somewhere in a tropical 'paradise' hundreds of years ago. Idly the teen began to pick out details of where it was located; while evidently set in the Caribbean, where the production company actually shot the film wasn't immediately obvious. The panning background certainly looked like some areas of costal Africa he'd seen.

Given his overall lack of interest, it was easy to notice Rock picking up at the introduction of the the female lead. The woman on screen was beautiful, wearing a brightly colored version of the same dress he bought earlier. Jonah observed how she tracked the woman, watching the controlled yet energetic movement the actor had going on. The gloom wasn't thick enough to hide her double take when the woman pulled out an old musket from the inside of her dress, in order to wave around the current set. Perhaps she was curious where the woman was hiding the weapon, or what it could do.

Stifling a yawn, Jonah glanced to Valmet as she made tiny coos of excitement at the action on screen. He was far less impressed; the sword fighting on the deck of the sailing ship, while well choreographed, was clearly faked. In ten seconds of dueling he saw four different ways to end the skirmish immediately, not the least of which was using the loaded pistol the male lead still had on his belt. Rock seemed interested, though in her case it was a dry look at the flamboyant battle. He smirked at imagining her in the fight, though it wouldn't last nearly so long with her in the picture.

Then came something which made Jonah distinctly uncomfortable. In the captain's quarters (what he assumed the space was anyway) the leads met, starting with an argument that quickly turned into a passionate kissing session. Cheeks reddening, the teen hurriedly adjusted his seat to do something, anything to halt the thoughts in his head. Leaving the theater was out of the question, so nothing could help him avoid the plainly faked sex scene on screen.

While the couple on screen made out, he tried looking towards anything but the footage taking up a fifth of his sight. In the process, he discovered Rock watching the intimate event. Unlike earlier she was hardly moving at all, utterly engrossed with the scene in front of her. It wasn't the vicarious interest most of the theater's occupants possessed, but something else he had had trouble identifying.

There was a contemplative look on her face, increasing as a slight frown came over the girl's features. Her gear patterned eyes were watching the on screen couple, flicking back and forth over the pair. Momentarily perplexed, Jonah tracked the little twitches on her expression while she watched intently. If he didn't know any better, he would claim she was committing the sight to memory. Like she was studying the actors.

Rock flicked her eyes to the side, catching him staring at her. The blush on the teen's cheeks was magnified exponentially, and he quickly snapped his head back forward no matter what was happening. Jonah's entire body froze, his heart thumping so hard he briefly wondered if anyone else could hear it. Out of the corner of his vision, he was aware that the girl's blank gaze was still on him.

Jonah was a dead man; up until that point there was an excuse for everything he had done. Helping her adjust, show her how things were done, her safety, making sure she didn't get shot, et cetera. There was no justification for his staring now, of which there were so many ways to misinterpret. Any second now he expected a punch, a kick, some type of physical violence to ward him away. He almost wanted someone to pull out a gun, then he could find a way out of the mess. If nothing else a gunman could function as an outlet for her rage.

When a soft pressure touched his arm, he almost jumped. Quaking in place, Jonah creaked his head to the side as slowly as possible. He expected anger, distaste, reproach, or various other emotions which were as obvious as a neon sign that he blew it, that everything he had done was for naught. Bracing for the inevitable, he looked at her.

Rock's features had softened, something unidentifiable in her eyes as she met his gaze. Unconsciously gulping, Jonah glanced to his forearm to discover her hand was resting on the sleeve. She wasn't gripping at all.

Fear turned to abject confusion, especially when she didn't retract her hand. Sneaking in furtive looks, Jonah saw Rock turning back to the movie. Her body language seemed…more relaxed now. Comforted even. The scene playing was a CGI naval battle between sailing ships, yet she didn't look like she was as focused as before. Screams and booms blared from the speakers, but the excitement wasn't engaging her as it did earlier.

Jonah stayed as still as possible, waiting for things to go wrong, like they always did. Any second now she would hurt him, someone would stand up and scream a threat, a Witch would appear, _something_. He couldn't sit in his seat watching a movie with Rock's hand on him, his life simply didn't work like that.

But nothing happened. Boy and girl watched a movie, in contact with each other. After several minutes, he slowly twisted his arm around, so his palm was facing the ceiling. With as much care as an EOD technician, Jonah moved his hand so it was parallel to Rock's. Then, utilizing ever scrap of delicacy he had in him, he moved his fingers between hers.

He felt the girl stiffening up at the contact, the impulse surging through her to pull back. She didn't like to be touched, a cardinal rule that was established when he first met her so long ago. One he was knowingly breaking right now. Any second she was going to pull away, with a hefty slap to emphasize her irritation.

Which was why she pushed her own hand closer to his, turning a fleeting touch into a full contact even through her glove. In seconds their fingers were intertwined, palms lying against each other with only the insulating glove between them. Jonah's heart thudded in his chest, feeling the start of a cold sweat he had rarely known throughout his life. The moment was going to end badly, he just knew it.

So why was nothing bad happening? Why was he holding hands with Rock with no trouble at all?

A tiny part of the teen's mind told him to shut up and enjoy it while it lasted. With nothing but his crippling paranoia in the way, Jonah did just that.

xXx

 **R/N; there, how do you humans like that? he wasn't going to put this up, can you believe that? i can see why, that was awful. honestly, newspapers have more engaging romantic dates than this. well, mine do anyway.**

 **so, i took the liberty of getting some help with some parts on the authors behalf. credit for the french and german lines go to generalallanwalker. look at his profile, do it.**

 **now i must be off, theres a pair of hot pants i need to get into͟͏̞͔̮̥ H̶̷̨͕̠̰̬̩̰̣a** ҉͞͏̲͈̰̗ **n̸̖̹͔͍̯̩̫͇g̸͏͎͔̩̤̤͈̮̝̀ on a tic, whats this? writing slave, what did you do?**


	8. Chapter 8, or where everyone dies

_Marseille, late evening…_

Wet heat wafted out from the entranceway when Jonah opened the door, being careful to flick the light off before he left. The dark hotel room had a chill to it that no amount of thermostat playing could eliminate entirely, though compared to the other side of the windows it was downright balmy. Not helping was the moist warmth of the bathroom, thick enough so his tee shirt and plain shorts were clinging to him. The view the glass offered was nice, but he wasn't in the mood to admire the nighttime skyline.

Two beds were in the room, both currently unused. Valmet left as he started to get himself a needed shower, the result of a call from Koko (presumably drunk if the slurred speech from the phone was any indicator). That one call had her charging off to go protect the pale woman's chastity from any fiend who dared try to violate her. Read: steal her chastity first, likely for hours on end. Jonah was perfectly okay with her leaving, it spared him the trouble of making himself scarce whenever the two women got frisky.

Before he went to sleep, Jonah peered at the space between the twin beds. A mass of wrinkled blankets was both bedding an a cocoon for Black Rock Shooter, who was fine with clean sheets but not the mattresses. Via the phone she claimed they ' _smelled bad_ ' and emphasized she didn't care about sleeping on the floor. Jonah was okay with any location so long as she stayed in the hotel room, and Valmet didn't stick around long enough to insist she climb in bed anyway.

He stared for a long moment, watching her curled form deep in sleep. Her head was exposed, one glove free hand resting beside her messy hair. He knew she was wearing her usual top and hot pants, getting back into her natural outfit minutes after they returned from a chilly jaunt through the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica. Resting on her side like she was, he would be hard pressed to imagine her drenched in blood, little of it hers. She seemed so peaceful right now.

Shaking off his adoration, Jonah slid underneath the bedsheets easily enough. Sleeping on such a soft surface was going to be a pain, he knew it already. Nevertheless, he twisted and turned, searching for the elusive spot that brought regenerative sleep. Ordinarily he would have shucked his shirt to help, something he usually did when he was in his own room. Not tonight, especially since they were leaving in the morning to return to the _Atlas_.

Jonah wasn't consciously flopping closer to the same side as Rock. So he told himself anyway, it was all a coincidence he insisted. The side closest to her happened to be the most comfortable, with the edge overlooking the dividing space being the best location. Twisting around so he could look down on her was a convenient bonus, so he could see her just being there. See her not murderous, not angry, not upset in any way. It wasn't a smile, but he would take it anyway.

His eyes were feeling heavier, dragging downwards so sleep could claim him. Jonah was fine with it; he wouldn't say today went as he wanted it to, but compared to his usual schedule the day was smooth. Apart from nearly shooting a few tourists out of jealousy, but in the end it worked out. He was nodding off when a new sound reached him.

A blink had his eyes wide open again, locking onto the source. Rock was twitching; tiny spasms rolled through her sleeping body every several seconds, her expression flickering. Her even breathing was crumbling, as if she was exerting herself. She was still asleep, showing no sign of being conscious.

Jonah observed silently, an uncomfortable feeling of helplessness filling him while he watched her have a bad dream. For a moment he wondered what she was dreaming about; her past in Otherworld, fighting off one opponent after another. The fight in the desert, slaughtering the SSI mercenaries over a mistake. Perhaps the idiots in the mall who tried getting rough with her, who wanted her to be just another conquest.

Or, dare he hope, was she remembering him? The Daxinghai refinery, saving her in Woodcrest, Narita, the Balkan Dragons, Malta, the hell that was Roanapur, the accidental encounter in London.

The burning field.

Jonah took a breath. He remembered the night, how his entire world was torn asunder. The memory no longer pained him as it once did, _time heals all wounds_ was how the old saying went. It was something he wasn't going to forget though. What he focused on every time it resurfaced was the point before White stepped in; the weight off his chest at finally realizing his feelings, and the unfiltered joy at seeing her return his love. Most of all, he treasured the all too brief contact, when his lips met hers.

Without being entirely aware of it, one of Jonah's arms slid out from under the sheets, planting his palm on the carpeted floor. A hint of reason politely asked him _what the hell was he doing_ , while he slowly pulled the rest of his torso out too. The other hand left too, supporting his weight as he exited the bed. Slowly, and with as much care as he was capable of mustering, Jonah brought himself closer to Rock.

He made no attempt to rush, pausing several times every time she unconsciously twitched. Earlier today was a minefield, this was a shallow river filled with hungry piranhas. It was a stupid, short sighted choice that was all too likely to backfire, which would see him receive a painful beating for the mistake. Jonah pressed on, bringing his head closer and closer to Rock. He insisted to himself that it was only going to take a second.

A quick peck was all he was after, something Koko and Valmet did all the time when they thought no one was looking. Just a quick touch, made while she was asleep and therefore ignorant of him. Then he would return to bed, richer one memory he was never going to forget. He promised himself, using every ounce of care he had in his body. Carefully his hands were repeatedly moved, ending up on her blanket cocoon. His body was in close proximity to the girl's, with his head above her. With the upmost caution, he descended.

Closer all the time, so close he could see the fine details of her beautiful face, one he never forgot. Her warm breath wafted out, ticking his own skin. A shiver of goosebumps rippled over him, his heart thudding harder than ever before. Resolute in his mission, Jonah creaked his mouth open, controlling his breathing so he didn't wake her by accident.

Inches from his goal, Rock's eyes opened.

Jonah froze, knowing with certainty he was doomed. They stared at each other for a breathless moment; he could see her mind processing what was in front of her, trying to make sense of the sheer bizarreness of what was happening. For him, one night months ago he was riding with Lehm for a mission, when a deer had walked in the road. The car's headlights seemed to trap the animal in place, leaving it staying still until the man honked the horn. He imagined he had a very similar look on his face right now.

Faster than he could react, Rock snapped her hand out to grab a fistful of his shirt, effortlessly dragging him the rest of the way out of the bed. The only thing be could do was quietly yelp. She slammed him onto the floor beside her, quickly casting her blanket aside to climb over the boy's torso, straddling him. The fist on his chest didn't loosen, but the other drew back, clearly preparing for a mean haymaker. Unconsciousness was the best case scenario here; she could very easily kill him.

Rock's breathing was fast and shallow, her fist hanging in the air in preparation. Jonah went limp, knowing there was nothing he could do even if he could raise a hand against her. Quiet fear clouded his expression, his wide red eyes meeting her cold blue ones. His own breathing was forcefully placed under control, being reduced to similar shallow gulps. He waited for the blow, bracing himself.

The girl's hard expression flickered; something he couldn't identify flashed over her, but it was causing her countenance to crumble. Jonah was puzzled, especially when the punch failed to land. His heart continued to thump in his chest, though when her balled up fist uncurled his breath caught in his throat. The hand descended slowly, opening up so her fingers were extended out. As close as he was, Jonah could see the tremble in her hand. The fist on his shirt loosened, the fingers splaying out instead. The pressure didn't lighten up however.

Fear and confusion reigned side by side within the boy, wondering what she was doing. The former fist was outright shaking, the tips of her fingers twitching when they finally landed on his face. He flinched, but no pain followed the contact. There was only the feeling of the callus coated fingers trembling across his face, slowly running up and down.

Slowly, Rock lowered herself down. Her rear settled on the bottom of his stomach, lowering down so her body was hunched above his. The weight on his chest ran downwards, feeling the skin of her torso through the all too thin shirt. She stopped midway down, discovering the patch of scar tissue; the eternal reminder of his mortality. Her hand ran over the mangled flesh, feeling the wound which nearly claimed his life.

Jonah's eyes were as wide as saucers, utterly dumbfounded at the girl. This was so unlike her, at no point in the length of time he knew her did she do anything like this. He had no idea what to make of it. Or of her panting breathing, or of her uncertain expression. Metaphorically and very literally he was in the dark.

When she adjusted herself on him, Jonah discovered he had a problem. There was something happening to him he knew very much about; months ago Tojo and R had taken him aside to explain the facts of life to him, both men surprised at how much he knew already. They did fill in the gaps of his knowledge, provided he never told Koko about the informal lesson. It was a promise he kept, more for his own sake than theirs. Rock was far enough forward that the disruption in his shorts wasn't noticeable, but he knew she would discover the problem sooner or later.

For some reason he couldn't explain, he wanted her to find out.

Rock grabbed the bottom of his shirt and began tugging it upwards. Without hesitation he flung his hands onto her arms, causing her to level an annoyed look at the boy beneath her. Jonah's breathing was picking up, matching her stare with his own terrified expression.

Jonah's problem was getting worse by the second; dreams he'd been having for a long time were resurfacing at the worst possible time, dreams that usually caused him to awake with shame and a cold sweat. Things revolving around _him_ and _her_ and things he forced out of his head during the day, only ever indulging in them when he was completely alone. What was happening now was almost straight out of one of the more persistent times his imagination roamed free.

What cinched the forbidden idea was Jonah running his hands up her arms, feeling the smooth skin underneath shiver at the contact. He braced himself for the the end, waiting for the fingers on his face or the hand on his shirt to turn back into fists and pummel him. When they reached her hair strewn shoulders, he stopped. Jonah stared nervously at Rock, searching for a cue of how to proceed.

It was Rock gently pulling his shirt up, exposing more and more of his built chest to her. Once the scar was exposed, she finally looked away. The gloom of night was just enough for her to see it, and for Jonah to watch her expression flicker in uncertainty at the wound. Emboldened, Jonah ran his hands down the sides of her chest. An intense shiver raced underneath his palms, her flesh recoiling from his touch. But she didn't stop him, even as he felt along the sides of her top.

Without thinking Jonah lifted himself up, making her reflexively back away. Fear crossed her features at the proximity, a close mirror of the boy's expression. Her breath was coming out as short snorts, the shiver in her form far more pronounced. He was the same way, utterly frightened at what was going on. But he stayed where he was.

Rock gulped, her Adam's apple bobbing with the action. Then slowly, very slowly, she closed the distance between them. Jonah didn't move, having the idea that pushing her was a bad idea. Though she looked ready to leap away, the girl brought her head closer to his, until their noses were almost touching.

Jonah took the last step, letting his lips softly brush against hers. Rock winced at the contact, all but shaking. Yet she didn't move away; experimentally she tried again, this time taking longer to draw back. While she was still shivering, it seemed to be less intense than before. The third time he decided to imitate Valmet very closely, via letting his tongue flick out. A fresh tremble rolled through her, worse than any preceding one.

But all the same, she didn't retreat. After several silent seconds, she copied him. Taking it slow, Jonah fell back onto the floor with Rock lowering herself onto him. Their lips met repeatedly, making contact then breaking just as quickly. When her tongue brushed against his teeth, he hesitantly opened his mouth to allow her access.

The taste of her was hard to describe; having no experience before this, he had nothing to say if the sensations he was feeling from her were normal or not. Ultimately he decided he wasn't opposed to her kissing him, or her warm body pressing up so closely. Idly he wondered about the men, about how most of them inevitably sought out the red light district of wherever they went. If this was what happened with them, then he could see why they were so enthusiastic every time the opportunity presented itself.

Emboldened like never before, Jonah trailed his hands down her torso, feeling the smooth skin underneath. Rock was warm (was she always this warm?) and very comforting. He didn't realize where he was heading until he suddenly felt coarse fabric, causing him to pause. Her hot pants. Feeling the clothing caused him to hesitate, debating whether to go farther than this or not. It was less of him wanting to, and more if it was right to take things to that end.

(Un)fortunately, Rock made the choice for him, albeit unwittingly. She was rubbing herself against him, the friction making his skin prickle even through his shirt. Going down further than before, she suddenly froze. The kiss was broken immediately, snapping up from him to blink in abject confusion. Jonah blanched, knowing exactly what caught her attention.

Lifting herself up, Rock peered down the cavity created by the length of their bodies to discover Jonah's secret. He feared this was it, that this was the end of the wonderful experience. But rather than disgust or apprehension, her face showed only curiosity. One of her hands ceased holding onto him in order to descend to the problem. Jonah wanted to stop her, but he couldn't. A part of him didn't want to stop her.

He couldn't stop the groan when she touched him, causing her to give him a strange look. Jonah offered an apologetic look, hoping it would be enough to make her let go. Rock didn't oblige him; instead she adopted a thoughtful expression while her hand felt along, watching his twitching face react to her ministrations. Pressure was building up in the teen, leaving him unable to cope with the feeling.

The one potential option Jonah seized, clasping his hands over her rear. Amazingly Rock seemed to squeak, jolting on top of him. Whatever his dwindling mental capacities were thinking, the faint picture of a result he was hoping for failed to happen. What occurred instead was Rock's hands suddenly gripping her new prize, squeezing tightly.

In an instant the pressure broke, disappearing into a tide of sensation which engulfed him. Jonah gasped, like he was in pain. For an unknown span of time his brains were pleasantly scrambled, taking everything resembling coherency from him. All the fight left him, leaving the teen utterly drained as all his muscles gave out. Everything had a welcome fuzzy quality to it, in particular the weight on top of him.

Consciousness returned grudgingly, the zen like state of mindless apathy slowly retreating back from whence it came. As he was, Jonah missed the oblivion that Rock had unknowingly created. It was nice. But as his mind came back into focus, he discovered coldly that the world around him hadn't stopped. Including Rock, who had dragged his shorts down.

The redness in the teen's face increased until he was almost purple, eyes widening in shameful terror at seeing her examine him. Rock didn't notice, flopping him around experimentally with one hand, while the other was dabbing at the fluid on the bottom of his stomach. She was interested in the thing, unseemly interested in what happened. As he watched, he recovered at an accelerated rate. She blinked in surprise, finally giving him a questioning look. He gulped.

"I'm sorry" he croaked. Rock raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. She continued to play with him without a care, perhaps wanting to repeat the event.

It occurred to Jonah that he was dreaming, a possibility he dismissed at once. No dream was this vivid, this filled with sensation. The easy explanation thwarted, he considered other options. The facts of the situation were: he was in a beyond embarrassing position, was just caught in the most shameful thing he could do, and Rock didn't look like she minded any of it. By logic, he should be dead or unconscious. Yet he was neither, and there was no sign of either option happening.

A strange thought wormed its way into Jonah's mind; if events had gone this far, then the situation should have been kaput. But since it hadn't, then why should he be worried? Theoretically he could take this to its conclusion, and everything would still be okay. He felt that his logic was faulty somewhere, but at the moment he was feeling far less considerate than normal. Far less considerate. In fact, not caring at all was sounding more and more appealing. He should be in grievous pain right now anyway, so what was the point of worrying.

When he touched her arm again, Rock paused to look at him strangely. Gulping nervously in spite of his misguided bravery, Jonah slowly trailed his hand from her arm to her torso again, this time ending up on her bare thigh. The girl's cheeks flushed red, comprehension dawning behind her blue orbs. She quickly looked away, inadvertently clutching her hand. With him still in her grip. His groan made her glance back at him, cringing nervously.

Finally letting go, Rock rose to her feet over him. Jonah watched breathlessly while her shaking hands went to her belt, freezing in place for a moment. She took a breath before undoing the restraint, letting her hot pants loosen up enough to slid down. Rock slid the garment down, exposing the sight of black panties to the boy. While not the first time he had seen female underwear, the situation where it happened was a new one. The girl bent over when it reached her knees, holding up one leg to step out of the pants. When it fell to her other ankle, a quick kick sent it away.

Jonah's wide eyes drank in the sight, and Rock watched his staring with mounting embarrassment. _So cute_ , he thought with a weird but welcome flutter in his chest.

Rock gulped nervously, blushing when her hands returned to her waist. This time, her thumbs looped in the band. Jonah forgot how to breath when she pulled the thin garment down, showing him the equivalent of what she explored on him. A quick repeat of the hot pants left her red faced, standing above him. When his burning lungs finally caught up with him, the teen coughed nervously. Seeing her flustered only increased his infatuation, going to a level he had never experienced before.

"You're beautiful" he murmured. Anywhere else, she likely wouldn't be able to hear him.

No matter how embarrassed she was, the words seemed to strike a chord within her. A hesitant grin graced her features, which Jonah met with a wide smile of his own.

When Rock crouched down to return to their original positioning, Jonah gently laid his hands on her legs to guide her down. An impulse had him guiding her bare rear to a different location than before, so their pelvises were nearly touching. Once she settled down on him once again, the girl sought his lips out once again, wrapping her arms around him entirely this time. Meeting her kiss this time, Jonah did the same, marveling at the feeling of her smooth body against his own. His heart was hammering once again, but no matter how he felt, it seemed right.

An unintentional spams of his hips had him touch her in an intimate place, causing the girl to freeze. Jonah stopped his kissing to give her a worried look, fearing that he made a mistake. Rock had tightened up her features, not quite a grimace. Nevertheless she nodded quickly. They resumed the kiss, the boy slowly repeating what happened. A shiver worked its way through the girl, feelings not unlike what he was experiencing.

It was by pure accident that the parts lined up in the right way, making both stop with fear. Jonah peered into Rock's eyes nervously, seeing the fear reflected back in every way. It dawned on him their positioning matched the plain diagrams the two men showed him, all he needed to do was make a slight adjustment. Though Rock's was red faced, the contact point seemed so inviting. Gulping, Jonah made the call.

She gasped, and so did he. Pushing inwards was unlike anything he had ever done before, returning his mind to the pleasant state of happiness from earlier. Rock's breathing was fast an ragged, making him falter. He almost aborted the entire event when she flashed him a brief smile, giving him just enough will to see it through.

Once he was as far in as he could go, Jonah stopped simply to catch a breath. His mental evaluation of the men was fixed; now he could understand the _why_ of their actions perfectly. Rock was grimacing, somewhere between pain and pleasure. He waited until his breathing was back under control, watching her intently for any sign. He wasn't sure of what, but a sign of something.

When Rock, still panting in effort on top of him, lowered her head down for another kiss, Jonah judged it okay to continue.

Time became blurry, all of his senses becoming pleasantly dim. The only thing which mattered was their act. Nothing but her tightness gripping him, the feel of her hot shuddering body moulded to his own, and the feel of her lips meeting his. The kisses started slow, but like everything else they sped up, until he was almost attacking her with how ferocious he was, how desperate for the raw feel of Rock. He whispered to her between breaths, fevered mumblings that got across how much he wanted her, now much he needed her. His heart thumped heavily, beating hard and fast. He could faintly feel her own heartbeat with as close as they were, and tried to match his movements to the thumps.

The end arrived quickly. Jonah grabbed her tightly, moaning and grimacing through an unforgettable experience. By his ear Rock opened her mouth and let out a gasping breath, her stoic persona shattered entirely. What remained of the teen's sanity wondered how this would be different if she had a voice; would she be screaming right now?

Their bodies went limp, Rock's not inconsiderable weight settling on top of Jonah while they both heaved with breath. Coming down from the high, Jonah was slowly processing the reaction Rock had to the event. Her body was shuddering, just as raw as he was. Inside him his love swelled for her like never before. When she lazily picked her head up to look at him, Jonah met her gaze once again. They were both breathing heavily, the effort of what happened catching up to them.

Jonah realized he wasn't feeling tired. Quite the opposite, he felt like he was just getting started. When he smiled at her from inches away, Rock's eyes briefly widened. But when she grinned back, he didn't hesitate. He grabbed her torso and pushed himself, flipping them over so she was beneath him. Her squeak turned into another gasp when he resumed, falling into the same place as before.

Once more, than twice more they went at it. At long last Jonah's exhaustion caught up with him, unable to fight back against the encroaching darkness anymore. His last act of consciousness was to kiss Rock one more time, whispering "I love you."

As he passed out, he thought he saw a flicker of blue light over her eye. He thought nothing of it, letting the millisecond long flash slip from his memory as sleep claimed him.

xXx

 **L̸͈͍͓e̢͚̩͖͇t̪̲̟̖ ͔̜̦͔̮̩̞̱́͝͝ͅm̧̖͓̞e̶͎̦̻̹̭͠ ̜̙̻̱̟o̢͎͉̟̮͜͝u̸͍̳͜͠t̛̠̙͍̥̩**

 **G̷̡̧̢ͭͧ̌ͨͩ̉͛̉̍͋ͭ̓̀aͤ̃̂̅̉́̏͌͆̈́ͫͦ̂ͤͩ̚͏̸̵͘͢h̷̷̛͑ͭ͒ͥ̌ͦ͘͡! A/N: Ow! Damn, that hurt! Ow, ow, ow, glass shards, ow, damn centipedes. Oh, hey. Hi folks, its me this time. Actually me, I swear. Just letting you know I'm fine, know you were worried about me and all. You were, weren't you? …figures.**

 **So, lets-**

 **No. No, no no** _ **no**_ **, oh** _ **hell no**_ **. She didn't, she didn't actually do it and I'm just hallucinating…nope. She posted it. This wasn't supposed to…crap.**

 **In the immortal words of TFS Gohan, "** _ **Oh Crapbaskets**_ **."**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Guess what's on tap today. Is it another cutesy date you've all want more of? Nope! A short anthology chapter concerning the characters none of you actually care about.**

xXx

 _Here_ , the Intruder thought with vicious relief.

This was it. Past the endless hallways of the sprawling mansion, past the countless busts of famous men and portraits of places and people, at the end of the special wing was his goal. Months of planning, weeks of effort, days of memorizing, hours of waiting, minutes of stealth, all seconds away for the greatest payoff of his short life. His anticipation was so great, he could almost taste it.

As much as the Intruder wanted to savor the feeling, there were more pressing matters at hand. Namely keeping up with his mentor as she darted down the darkened hallway in front of him. Her speed was slower than her usual pace, so as to not outrun him. It helped that her weapons were lighter than his his; dual modified SIG-Sauer GSRs, the pistols painstakingly recreated from her Daxinghai days, complete with knife bayonet modules. In comparison he was carting a M4 Specter, an ugly weapon compared to the simple yet user friendly Vektor she trained him to use.

Nevertheless he ran after her, taking care to keep the SMG trained on the corners for any threats. The gloom was a blessing and a curse; with the dark blue clothing the Intruder wore and the black shirt with tan colored pants she had, they blended in very well. On the flip side, his ability to spot new threats was going to be considerably cut down. Not for the first time he mentally thanked her for leading the way instead of letting him tackle this alone.

When she suddenly stopped, he froze too. While she brought up both of her handguns to scan for targets, he swept behind them with his borrowed weapon at the ready. The hallway, tacky with the considerable lighting, less so with the power cut, was emptied of all living souls. All the same, the Intruder felt danger was close by. He chastised himself for not recognizing it sooner.

When his mentor began slowly walking forward with her weapons aimed high, he copied her, every footfall deliberately placed. Not far away was the thick door of his target, made entirely of expensive mahogany. Much of the woodwork in the office beyond was made of the rare wood, as well as other more uncommon materials. Its owner liked flaunting his vast wealth in any way he could, ranging from the subtle to the glaringly obvious.

 _Not for long_ , the Intruder thought, tightening the grip on his firearm. Another few minutes and the head of a vast empire was about to get the french aristocrat treatment.

Once the door was firmly in view, the mismatched pair of a hastily trained expat and a discharged exile proceeded as they planned. She took the far side by the hinges, he placed himself by the thick brass handle. The target was still inside, just as they wanted to. Privately the Intruder feared he had already escaped, whether to a prearranged escape vehicle for occasions like this or to an impregnable panic room, either one of which would make a mockery of their four month plan.

He glanced to his mentor for reassurance; earlier they both had ski masks, but once inside they discarded them. The smooth Chinese features of the woman were tight, as her incredible personal discipline called for. But upon seeing his gaze, she nodded once. Both pistols aimed at the ceiling as she kept out of the doorframe, she silently gave him the go ahead. Taking a quick breath, the Intruder leveled his weapon at the door as one hand grasped the handle, gently turning in preparation of opening it.

He had it most of the way opened when he heard an almost silent click from the other side. His mentor's eyes bulged as he threw himself away from the door, barely avoiding the powerful blast of heat.

Splinters flicked against him as he stumbled, ears ringing painfully. Grimacing, he shook his head to return to the door, finding the woman scowling but otherwise unharmed. Of the door, there was now a ragged hole the size of his head in the center, which a stream of yellow light shown from. Though his ears rang from the shotgun blast, they were in good enough condition for him to hear a mocking laugh.

"You dipshits thought it'd be that easy?!"

Undeterred, the Intruder scrambled to his place by the door with his Specter held tightly. His mind raced to find a way to deal with this complication, going through the short list of potential options. Another shotgun blast, a twelve gauge for sure, blew apart more of the door. Flinching from the shower of splinters, he grimaced.

His mentor was listening closely however. After several seconds she looked to him and mouthed "Double barrel."

At first his eyes widened, but then he smiled. He should have assumed the target had a weapon like that, it fit his personality. The chastisement could wait; one hand left the forward grip for his belt, grasping the small flashbang grenade. Looking to the woman, she nodded.

Crouching down, she presented a smaller target to anyone coming from the other end of the hallway. She was also able to quickly rap the butt of her SIG on the door twice before yanking it back, not reacting to the following blast in any way but a small smile. He flinched at the next chunk of the door being obliterated, but he wasn't made of the same stuff as her. She gave him one more look before hitting another part of the door, making sure he was ready when the target obliged her trick.

Just as a fresh hole was blasted into the door, he popped the safety and tossed the grenade through the opening he politely made for them, quickly covering his head. Even so, the bright flash stung at his vision, to say nothing of the loud boom. But he didn't let himself get distracted. Grabbing the knob, he swung it open and darted inside, the diminutive gun leading the way. He felt rather than heard his mentor following him in.

The thick old man was sputtering out curses as he clutched his elegantly detailed shotgun, one hand desperately grabbing his face. A bulky flashlight provided a thick beam of illumination, fighting back the darkness. The Intruder contemplated letting his staggering body collapse under his own weight, but in the end he choose to hurry him along. Two shots left his Specter for the shotgun arm, creating flashes of crimson and making him cry out in pain. As much as he enjoyed his scream, business came first. The next squeeze of the tigger put three bullets into his midsection, where there was certainly body armor.

It was the last straw; the obese plutocrat's legs gave out, sending him tumbling to the ground. A loud yelp of pain left the old man when he landed, music to the young Intruders ears.

Stalking forward, an uncommon smirk came over the youth. Unlike his approving or his satisfied smiles, this one handily showed off the hate he felt for this man, the affront to everything he was and all that he stood for. To see him like this, bleeding and helpless, was a sweeter gift than anything he could imagine. Soon, it would all be over.

Though groaning in pain, the plutocrat retained enough lucidity to clutch his wounded arm. Before the Intruder confronted him, he swung the heavy searchlight around so he could see his killers face.

Edward Wuncler the First smirked, grimacing through the pain. "Huey Freedman, should have known."

"Freeman" Huey corrected, training the Specter on him. The vicious smile on the teen's face was like nothing anyone had ever seen before, as far away from his blank scowl that could be imagined. But the old man showed no fear.

"You have no idea how badly you fucked up you brat. No idea" Wuncler's uninjured hand crept towards the ornamentally designed shotgun, probably worth more than his grandfathers home. A kick sent it away, out of the man's reach.

"I'm not the one bleeding to death" Huey pointed out, pointing the gun to which part of the man he wanted to shoot next. Something which would make him die slow, such as the stomach.

Wuncler smirked evilly. "Its not over you little n***** shit, killing me won't magically fix the world. And my successor will have a team of assassins on your ass in the time it takes you to-"

* _ **Blam***_

Huey jumped, quickly yanking himself around as adrenaline surged through his system. Seeing the smoking gun had the effect of forcing him to calm down, especially once the woman lowered it to level a look at him. A wave of anger replaced it.

"I got tired of his mouth" Karen Low offered in the blandest of tones.

"But-" Huey protested angrily, sparing a look at one of the richest men in the world. Wuncler's head was jerked back, a splatter of bones and blood coating the carpet above him.

He was dead.

"It doesn't take much to kill a man. The hard part is living with yourself afterwards" Karen offered sagely. Seeing his contorted face, the woman replaced one of her SIGs to her holster and walked over to him, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but didn't try fighting her off. "You don't need his blood on your hands. You're better than that."

"I'm not!" he snarled, shaking in her firm grip. Her hand tightened a minute degree, subtly reminding to relax.

"You're young. You don't need to walk down the same path I did. Now" she let go, turning towards the exit. "Let's go."

Fuming, Huey gave the cooling body another hard look. "That's it?" he questioned sourly.

"That's all there ever is. Slow vengeance belongs in plays and trashy novels" at the door she paused to look over her shoulder. "You asked me to teach you the ways of the world. There's your lesson" a halfhearted wave towards the body concluded her statement.

Huey took a breath, tasting the cordite and the blood. His dreams, his plans, his aspirations, was this all it amounted to? A body of an old man in a dark room, empty of everything which made him want to destroy the plutocrat. He imagined so much out of this, and in the end he felt nothing.

"All there is" he murmured.

"Everything except living with yourself afterwards. Now c'mon, Mii asked me to pick up some ingredients from around here before we head back" she walked off to the darkened mansion once she finished speaking. He was tempted to spray the body with the remainder of his magazine, but the thought of Karen admonishing him for the waste ended the idea.

Deeply unsatisfied with the most important moment of his entire life, Huey gritted his teeth and marched off.

xXx

Wet steam wafted up from the tiny kettle, its contents on the verge of boiling. Its owner nodded satisfactorily, picking up the handle to gently tip the small stream of hot water into an awaiting cup. Under normal circumstances at least one insulating hot pad would be necessary for this action, but this woman rarely lived under normal conditions.

"Um, ma'am?"

Ignoring her, the young woman with horns atop her head set the kettle back where it was. Next she picked up her artfully detailed cup, complete with an awaiting herb sack already leaking its contents into the water. With one large claw fit through the convenient hoop, she brought the cup to her softly smiling face. Her nostrils flared, taking in the delightful scents.

"Ma'am."

Now properly scented, the woman lowered the cup several inches for the last step of her tea preparation routine. Which was taking her other large clawed hand up to stick a single metal finger into the steaming liquid. Gently, so to not spill any, she stirred the contents until it was a burnished gold. Satisfied, she brought the cup to her lips and sipped. With her eyes closed, her expression was one of bliss.

The reporter clearing her throat annoyedly caused Black Gold Saw to open her eyes early, her head swiveling to the British woman with a carefree smile.

"Would you like me to repeat the question?" she questioned sternly. The thirtish woman, english, welsh, Gold Saw didn't particularly care about the distinction, was short haired and blonde, clad in a female business suit. The air of professionalism the woman (Stacy, Macy, whatever) projected was utterly lost on the near untouchable Witch.

Black Gold Saw shook her head. "I'm perfectly fine. Tea?" she waved a large hand at the set of china she took into the United Kingdom Embassy an hour ago. The cameraman obediently kept his machine in place, so both women were easily visible. On the other side of the camera however was a dozen uniformed men of the Royal Thai Army, watching the proceeding events with wary eyes. As well as P90 TRs, but neither of the Brits knew enough about firearms to identify them.

"No thank you" the reporter said briskly, clearly nonplussed by the uncaring target of the interview. "Alright then, Miss Gold Saw. Much of the international community is outraged by your role in the terrorist attack of Roanapur, which culminated in the Former Admiral Scott Swift ordering a nuclear weapon launched at the city. What are your feelings on having a large hand in the incident" the woman cleared her throat. "No pun intended."

Black Gold Saw tilted her head to the side, giving the ceiling an interested look. "Boredom and apathy mainly. I suppose for the purposes of soundbites I have some regret at those people's deaths. Though if you ever set foot in that place yourself, you wouldn't feel the same."

"There were one hundred and fifty thousand human beings in that city, on top of the more than two thousand of your kind unleashed there. You feel _nothing_ for the quantity of death?"

"If you've ever been to Roanapur, then you wouldn't be so upset. As for the Otherworlders there, they were dumb enough to let themselves get caught, and did nothing to convince me they didn't want to go out to kill every living thing they saw. In the end, no great loss" punctuating her easygoing statement was another sip of her tea. The reporter stared mutedly, forcibly composing herself to move on.

"You've face serious internal opposition to leading Thailand's Anti-Otherworlder Task Force, what're your thoughts-" the woman had to trail off at the sight of one of the soldiers in the room with them, ostensibly there for their safety. Gold Saw glanced to the man as well, dropping her lazy smile.

He had a small cellphone to his ear, listening intently. At an unseen cue he clicked it off and turned to the interview, expressionless. The double swipe of his flatted palm in front of his throat was obvious however. Black Gold Saw sighed wistfully as she set her tea aside, rising to her full height in view of the camera.

"My apologies Miss Stacy-"

"Gaci."

"But I must be going. Business calls. Nice chatting with you" she said regretfully.

But as she strode away with all but two of the soldiers falling in behind her, the small smirk she wore spoke otherwise. Of the guards, they cared not. They marched off with their weapons in hand, off to deal with the newest emergency.

xXx

"Hello humans, I am Dead Master, and welcome to Five Nights at Freddy's. I've been getting requests to play this game for some time now, so I decided to see what all the fuss is about. Supposedly this is a horror game, but looking at the menu tells me it's trying too hard. Normally I wouldn't bother with these types of games, but my two week excursion to San Diego starts the day after tomorrow, so what could be a better parting gift to you. This should be a given but I'll repeat it anyway, regular videos will resume once I return to Pearl Harbor. Now, lets begin."

"Hmm, okay, tiny office. And I can't get up, of course. Oh tablet. A camera? Bleh, where's the games at? I'm in the mood for some minesweeper. And, uh great, some idiots calling me. I'm going to call you Timmy, because you remind me of my guard. Speaking of which…yeah. You sure? Whatever, your loss. Just offered Sergeant Timmy a cameo, he wouldn't take it. Is this guy still- wait, I saw that. I saw that costume move. I'm on to you."

"Its over already? Wow, that was easy. If the rest of the game is like this, I want a refund."

 _Five minutes later…_

"Why do I not have a weapon? There are hostile animatronics running around this place, they clearly want to kill me. Or scream in my face, whatever. This is the third night of this garbage, is this dumb human not smart enough to grab a weapon of some kind? How hard is it to get a gun? Apparently you can buy a gun in Honolulu for a thousand dollars. In Iowa, where Sergeant Timmy is from, you can buy a good one for two hundred-hang on, no, three hundred dollars. Is this idiot…I see you there. You can't hide from me."

 _Ten minutes later…_

"Nonono! You! Get away! From me! Ha! Smack the door with your face, dumbass-wait nonono no power!? What kind of cheap shit is this!? No-AH!…huh?"

"HA! Night completed! Take that you overgrown plushie! Now bow before my…night five. Night. Five. How many nights are there?"

 _Two minutes later…_

"GAH!"

"…"

"…"

"…I just. Spilled my monster. All over my lap. I had a chicken thing scream in my face _twelve_ times now, and my drink is now dripping down my legs. Ha aaahh..."

"Okay, lets…you know what? How about this. I have a great idea, just hear me out."

"Mm-mm. _Fuck_ this game, _fuck_ you…browser… ah, Scott Cawthon. Thats it, fuck _you_ for making this game. And fuck _all of you_ for suggesting I play Five Nights at Freddy's. All of you can die in a fire. Die in water, whatever, just die. When I get back, I'm going back to Battlefield. Maybe I'll try Payday, or Minecraft, or whatever else catches my fancy. But seriously, _Fuck_. _This_."

"Okay, now its out of my system, I'm going to end this here. Thanks for watching, I'm hoping you got some enjoyment out of me screaming like a little human girl. No, I will _not_ pick this game up ever again, screw that. Now goodnight everyone, and remember, like time itself, I'm going to kill you eventually. _Sleep well._ "

Lehm lowered the tablet with a blank look on his features as the cheerful electro music began. Beside him Lutz was hesitating, pondering how the older man would react to the YouTube celebrity with one million subscribers to her name.

"So?" the blond prompted carefully.

Lehm took a deep breath, handing the tablet over and fetching a cigarette. "I had that girl in my sights. Two seconds, and I could have blown her head off." he shook his head as his ever useful lighter found its way into his grip. "Dead Master becomes an internet celebrity, Black Gold Saw gets her own government task force, and Rock gets amnesia. Life really is a bitch sometimes" he murmured before walking away.

Giving the tablet a despondent look, Lutz looked up once he realized something. "What'd you think of the video?" he called out.

Lehm held a flattened hand over his shoulder and waggled it.

xXx

In the metropolis known as New York City, there is everything one could ever want. Food, entertainment, assassins, and music. All of this and more was in the city that never sleeps, for anyone willing to search for it. For a certain individual, what she wanted was in a wealthy club in Queens. On one clear night, she would become a fleeting star.

It was a nice little club, though by definition it was more of a bar. Those from the other side of the pond would call it a pub and be done with the matter. As a small establishment, there wasn't much in the way of entertainment; a few pool tables, some dartboards, and a single stage for a band to play whatever music they felt like. A small loss, but with its size and usually underwhelming number of customers any given night, it was less of a problem then what would be expected. Tonight, on a brisk evening for New York, there were a number of people just looking for an evening to drink and relax, away from the stress of the ever more dangerous world.

This was not like most nights. The hundred plus people in the bar quieted down when a single girl strolled from nowhere onto the stage, like she owned the place. Conversation dulled and switched to the intrusion, a feeling of discomfort pervading the many men and women at the unscheduled event. On her end, the girl, with horns atop her head and a strange thick outfit of blooming pants and a old styled jacket, walked to an awaiting mic. Before she took it, the girl glanced to the four band members. All of them were local young men wanting a tidy paycheck. Unlike the customers, they were not surprised in the least.

Tapping the mic once, the girl with the magenta eyes looked over the gathered people and beamed. "Hello everyone. I'm here to interrupt your regularly scheduled entertainment for a special occasion." she paused, letting the hubbub of confused mumbling run its course. Once the majority of the puzzled eyes had returned to her, she resumed. Her eyes were sparkling, all but literally.

"Today is an anniversary, to mark the passing of a friend of mine." more ripples rolled through the temporarily homogeneous gathering of humans. "I owe a great deal to this girl, I'll never be able to tell her how much," she stopped to look away, her smile dropping.

Sighing, she returned to the mic with downcast eyes. "I miss her every day. I miss her laugh, I miss her company, I even miss her corny jokes." a faint grin ghosted her features, looking away once again. The buzz of conversation never ceased, but it was clear sympathy was worming its way into many of the patrons.

"She's gone. I can't change that. No one can. But I'm not going to stay grieving forever. Nor will I forget her." she stopped once again to square up her shoulders. "Tonight, I'm going to remember her. If you'll allow me, I'm going to sing you a little tune. It was one of her favorites, I hope you'll like it too."

Breathing once more, she turned to the awaiting band and idly flecked a finger at them. "Hit it."

A soft piano began the performance, the tune mournful yet upbeat. The girl closed her eyes and began to sway in place, gracefully moving herself to the tune. A set of strings joined next, with a small horn following. The last, a drummer, hit his notes exactly how the rehearsal practiced. When the time came, she brought the mic to her face opened up to the crowd.

" _~I know, I know I've let you down_

 _I've been a fool to myself_

 _I thought that I could live for no one else_

 _But now, through all the hurt & pain_

 _It's time for me to respect_

 _The ones you love mean more than anything~"_

Her voice was clear, an aria perfectly suited to the music. To those closest to the stage, they could see her features flickering with emotion. The band picked up the pace, it was what their benefactor for the evening paid them to do.

" _~So with sadness in my heart_

 _I feel the best thing I could do_

 _Is end it all_

 _And leave forever_

 _What's done is done_

 _It feels so bad_

 _What once was happy now is sad_

 _I'll never love again_

 _My world is ending~_ "

The girl gulped down a lump in her throat before flinging a hand out to the now entranced people.

" _~I wish, that I could turn back time_

 _'Cause now the guilt is all mine_

 _Can't live without the trust from those you love_

 _I know, we can't forget the past_

 _You can't forget love & pride_

 _Because of that, it's killing me inside~_ "

The world beyond seemed to vanish. It no longer mattered to the gathered people, who witnessed the unknown singer with awe.

" _~It all returns to nothing, it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down_

 _It all returns to nothing, I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down~_ "

She clenched her eyes shut, smiling as she held back tears.

" _~In my heart of hearts_

 _I know that I could never love again_

 _I've lost everything_

 _Everything_

 _Everything that matters to me_

 _Matters in this world~_ "

The girl held an outstretched arm to the side as she let her head fall back, lost in her own world during the pause in the music. Her face returned to the crowd just as the starting verse began once more, eyes misty while the mic was held close.

" _~I wish that I could turn back time_

 _'Cause now the guilt is all mine_

 _Can't live without the trust from those you love_

 _I know we can't forget the past_

 _You can't forget love & pride_

 _Because of that, it's killing me inside~_ "

This time, the girl let her gaze wander to the ceiling. She no longer payed attention to the people, lost in memories of days long past. Hot tears rolled down her smiling face, but she didn't care. She danced and danced, losing herself to the music.

" _~It all returns to nothing, it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down_

 _It all returns to nothing, I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down_

 _It all returns to nothing, it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down_

 _It all returns to nothing, I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down~_ "

She fell silent, swaying in place with her eyes freely leaking. The band kept at it, letting the organized tune fall into chaotic disarray. The music itself seemed to distort, like reality itself was having a seizure. She twirled in a circle, as if she was dancing to the world burning and didn't care at all.

Then, after several minutes, the band fell silent. The unknown singer froze in place, her outstretched arms slowly falling to her sides. She looked to the crowd and smiled, her eyes red. "This was for you Bael."

A pair reached the bar table as applause erupted from the crowd, a hundred voices yelling and clapping their approval to the now bowing musicians and the idly waving girl. A middle aged man in a bartender's outfit was watching the impromptu event, but a set of knuckles rapping on the wooden surface hard enough to rattle the bench made him snap his head over.

In front of his table was two people seemingly immune to the approving crowd; a nineteen year old girl clad in a white button up leather jacket and black pants, with hair and eyes colored brunette and pink. The other was a hulking dark skinned man looking to be in his early forties, easily seven feet tall and built like a grizzly bear. Muscles rippled all over him, his bald head reflecting what little light was in the club. The fact that he was wearing an ill fitting tuxedo a size too small did nothing to suppress the sheer intimidation he projected. She was smiling daintily, he was glaring at everyone he saw. They couldn't have been more different.

"Um…" he trailed off at the look of barely concealed loathing the enormous man had. His female companion merely smiled at him, twirling her parasol.

"Water" the man said, in a voice that sounded like churning gravel.

The bartender hurriedly nodded and darted over for his order. The man turned his head to his counterpart, who returned a cheeky smile to him. "I blame you for putting this idea into her head" he all but growled at her. Her only response was a wink.

xXx

 **A/N: This exists because I needed to tie up loose ends. Any I forgot? I think this covers everything. Nothing you spotted here is mine. Nothing I tell you! It belongs to its proper owners, I just borrowed them for this short round of fun.**

 **Oh, and a shoutout to Admiral Fatass. Dude, you're amazing and I wish you the best of luck for the future**.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Before I start, I'd like to make some recommendations. If you're enjoying this story, why don't you check out BlueSkyes Slán Go Fóill, or Acidika's Insanity? Pop in, leave a review or thirty, then saunter out like you just don't care.**

xXx

" _No_."

The one word left his lips in a whisper, too quiet to be heard unless by the most sensitive. Even if someone did, it would take time to process his meaning, time which wasn't available to anyone. He was not exempt, having but a second to react. The teen spent his minuscule chance doing the only thing he could, giving no thought to his actions.

Jonah dove, tackling the girl to the ground as his world erupted into gunfire.

xXx

"We're going to Japan again?"

The meeting room of the Atlas was stuffed to the brim, as it tended to be when Koko called for a briefing. The combined men and women piled in the cramped space were in warm outfits a short time ago, discarding the thickest garments after arriving in the well heated area. Jonah found himself wedged between Lutz and Tojo, the latter raising his eyebrow to accompany the directed question.

Standing at the head of the table, the pale woman nodded. "I'm well aware its outside of our usual stomping grounds. _But_ , its a special event this time around" Koko explained, clad in a thicker business suit suited to the cold. As usual, she also had her crisp smile.

R frowned as he leaned forward, as much as the tight space would allow. "Mind if I ask what's going on?" he inquired, several nods from the others following his words. A flicker crossed Koko's ever present smile, leaving the teen wondering what the problem could be.

"Of course. Its a combination of a big deal coupled with some financial problems the home office is having a conniption over. With Kaspar dead" the corners of her mouth twitched, "Experienced dealers are at a premium for the time being. Normally this wouldn't be something to get worked up over, except there's a huge mutual security conference going on in the next few days too. I mean it, there's supposed to be reps from practically every nation in East Asia. A lot of people are going to be on the lookout for new hardware, such as our client."

"Who is?" Lehm asked easily, leaning back in his seat. In the process, he jostled both R and Mao. Both men shot him a look, which he ignored.

"Colonel Pham, of the Vietnam People's Army. He told the home office the military is interested in new artillery, but if we play this right he'll be carting a lot more equipment home with him. We're meeting him at the embassy in Tokyo, stay for a few days, then its back to the Middle East for a while" Koko elaborated.

Wiley raised an eyebrow. "I didn't thing those guys were interested in most western made gear."

"Which is why we're handling this. If I can't get a contract signed, then no one can. Any other questions?" Koko directed to the others.

No one answered, although Valmet's features lit up at the possibilities of another working vacation. Jonah couldn't blame her, not after recalling what happened last time they were in Japan. Idly he wondered if the Finnish woman was contemplating ring shopping; she hadn't said anything about it, but he had the impression the idea was on her mind. Otherwise he had no idea how to explain a wedding magazine she bought.

"Excellent. Get some rest, our flight leaves at eight a.m. tomorrow. Japan's internal security has been good so far, but lets not take chances" Koko finished brightly.

" _Kay_." the mixed group chorused, rising from their seats after the evident conclusion. Jonah waited for a moment, not wishing to be crushed under someone's bulk on the way out. He occupied himself by letting his attention drift to the opposite side of the room, where the girl was located.

Leaning against the wall, Black Rock Shooter roamed her eyes over the gathered team, seemingly planning on the same thing as him. Her gaze passed over the teen, hesitating for a second's time before moving on. Jonah forced down the flutter in his stomach, outwardly showing only his normal empty boredom. He assumed one to perhaps all of the men knew of the change between them, but he didn't want to show it. Perhaps his fear of their reactions was baseless, perhaps it wasn't. When she was among the others, Rock did the same.

It was when Jonah was alone with her that things changed. He smiled around her, more than any other time in recent memory. She did too, a most wonderful sight he treasured. Rock liked to be in contact when they were together; from entwining her hand with his, to resting next to him. It was a rare night that she didn't sneak into his room to be with him, half the time with her lips meeting his. While they hadn't repeated the night in Marseilles (despite him thinking very much about it), he and her still spent much of the evening together.

For now though, Jonah had to content himself with waiting. Soon a boring job would start, then he could be with Rock for a while, with nothing to worry about.

xXx

Biting back a curse, Jonah kept his arm on Rock's thrashing body. The gunfire filled the air above the tiny storefront, a veritable cloud of hot lead swarming far too close. He could almost feel the bullets whistling by their thin cover, each one promising a swift death.

"Stay down!" he shouted, hunched close so she could hear him. Jonah's ears were pounding, the assault on his eardrums painful in its intensity. Flecks of debris from a wall being tore up by the gunfire was salt in the wound.

Rock continued to struggle, though she stopped trying to stand back up. Judging it good enough, Jonah crawled on his hands and knees towards the edge of the storefront. Though he drew his Browning from the torso holster, he wasn't planning on counterattacking yet. Stopping to press his back against the thin granite, he glanced back to check on the girl. Unsurprisingly she was crouched behind the cover too, lights flashing around her arm. He sighed in relief once he confirmed it was her cannon.

Refocusing his attention, Jonah strained to listen. He caught a glimpse of at least three attackers, two of them armed with machine guns. What types they had, he couldn't tell from his brief look, but the pounding reports above him sounded like five five six rounds. Belt fed most likely, the two attackers alternating to keep up the firepower. He couldn't hear or see Valmet, but the gunfire wasn't homing in on where he saw her last.

Based on the way the attackers were shooting, he noticed they consistently avoided aiming directly at either him or the few civilians in the tiny shop. Bullets raked around their cover, even though the few centimeters of granite was unlikely to offer much protection. At first he thought the attackers would close in on him soon, but neither men (he guessed there were two anyway) paused in suppression duty.

The realization made Jonah grip his pistol tighter. These were no ordinary thugs, but professional gunmen. With the thought came confusion; Koko was at the embassy with Lehm, Tojo, R, and Ugo. Lutz and Mao had stayed at the hotel with Wiley. So why were they attacking Valmet, Rock, and him? Why here?

For now it wasn't important. Jonah threw a flattened hand towards Rock, hoping she would stay in cover for a moment. They had to wait for their chance. Too soon and they would be shredded, too late the same thing. He had one magazine, so every shot had to count. When the torrent of gunfire suddenly cut out, Jonah began to make his move.

Until a leg covered in black metal planted itself in front of him.

xXx

"I'm going shopping, who wants to join me?"

Jonah craned his head around, matching Lutz in the movement. In front of them the television blared, some gameshow the channel flipping blond landed on while coping with the room spanning boredom. They weren't the only ones; Mao was just coming out of the hotel bathroom when Valmet made her offer, pausing on his way to the couch Jonah and Lutz were sharing. Planted comfortably in his commandeered chair, Wiley lowered his book to make eye contact.

Wrapped up in the corner, Rock was the last, the blanket she borrowed flopping around as she awoke. Out of the corner of his eye the teen noticed the remains of a plastic container inside her makeshift nest, a packet of potato slices she bought earlier. Jonah thought the choice of food was strange (given her near legendary sweet tooth), though he was assuming it was because she wanted to try something new while they were in Japan.

"Anyone?" Valmet repeated at the door, an out of place handbag over her shoulder a she looked on hopefully. All of the grown men coughed at close to the same time.

"That's nice of you, but I wanna stay put in case Koko calls. You know what happened last time we were here."

"This place has a good wifi network, was hoping to skype. We're almost in the same time zone here."

"My Japanese is pretty bad, sorry. Why don't you take Jonah? Put those language lessons to good use."

The Finnish woman turned her lone gaze towards Jonah, making the teen stiffen. He didn't want to go with her this time, knowing he would end up as a receptive ear when the topic inevitably turned to Koko. As of late, whenever he was with her she kept asking for his opinion on stuff related to the pale woman. After a six hour flight and a long hassle of customs from both Rome and Narita, all the teen wanted was a few hours of uninterrupted sleep before something happened again, like it tended to do.

"Rock, you wanna come too?" The girl with the messy pigtails turned her sleepy gaze towards Valmet, thinking over the offer. After a moment Rock yawned and stood up, idly searching for her coat.

"You might wanna put a sweater on, its cold out. Pants are a good idea too" Wiley suggested from his seat, unmoving.

Jonah felt his muscles creaking when he rose, fighting back a momentary grimace. "Want anything while I'm out?" he directed towards the three men, considering whether he should grab his Magpul Masada or not.

xXx

The gear patterned eyes of the so called Witch briefly settled on him, her face a blank mask. In her eyes Jonah saw no happiness, no anger, and no fear. It was perfectly blank in a way he could relate to. The wide sword in her clawed hand was virtually still, close enough for him to see faint patterns engraved on the black metal.

Jonah didn't pause because of the Otherworlder in front of him. He might have if the circumstances were different; though her outfit and the metal clad limbs were wrong, the girl still bore an uncanny resemblance to Rock. If not for the blue crown and different style of pigtails, he would almost be convinced it _was_ her.

He froze because he knew Rock was going to attack the enemy Otherworlder. The gunmen weren't important, his or Valmet's safety wasn't a concern, the all too obvious cues the girl was allied with the unknown attackers didn't matter. She was going to meet this girl blade to blade, and to hell with the consequences. The teen knew he had one chance to stop the fight before it started.

It was an opportunity Jonah squandered by staring, which the Otherworlder was quick to take advantage of. A lighting fast kick into his torso drove the air from his lungs, followed by a powerful backhand which flung him away. The one shot he fired went wild, burying itself into a wall. Hitting a display counter, the teen's Browning slipped from his limp fingers as his body went slack. Jonah was fighting back the pain even as his vision wavered, precariously close to losing consciousness.

The Otherworlder charged, swinging her sword in a wide arc. A resounding clash echoed in the tiny store as Rock matched her, the girl's own slender blade holding under the strain. As she grimaced in effort, the enemy Witch showed no sign of exertion. Unnoticed by Rock, the two men who opened fire on them began to make their move.

xXx

 _Snap_ went the top cover, exposing the steaming contents of the small styrofoam box to open air. Jonah watched out of the corner of his eye, observing how Rock was tearing into the cheap sushi. She quickly gobbled the meal sized order down, sending guarded looks to the multitudes of people around them. Her pace remained a match for his, staying close to a shopping bag laden Valmet. Grease was staining her gloves, but she showed no sign of caring. Jonah grabbed some napkins from the food court, so it wasn't a big deal.

The open air mall was a nice place he decided, even with the chilled air. If it were a sunny day Jonah imagined the mall would be much better. With the overcast sky threatening snow however, the best thing he could say was the mall wasn't very crowded. For a city of some thirty five million people, there didn't seem to be many in the metropolis. Most of the people he could see were bundled up as thickly as he was, giving the three foreigners no trouble.

Rock seemed indifferent about the place, and so long as no one realized what she was, Jonah didn't mind. The black sweater and pants she wore helped in that regard, though he worried some people would see her black long coat for what it signified. Though after passing by a clothes store with display mannequins wearing similar outfits, he reluctantly assumed the risk was minimal.

Finishing up the last of the food, Rock began to crumple the package up, only to notice Jonah's hands held in front of her. One was held open, while the other had a couple of napkins. After a second she accepted the offer, taking both napkins as she gave him the empty carton. Jonah veered to the side to dump it into a trash bin before returning, watching how she wadded the paper up to clean one set of fingers at a time.

He pulled a few more from his pocket once she ruined the first two, repeating the effort for her other hand. Once she was finished Rock handed the wadded to him once again. But as she started to face forward again, Jonah took a cleanish part of the napkin to her cheeks.

Rock jerked, leveling a confused look at him. Jonah quietly cleared his throat. "There's stuff on your lip" he explained, pointing to his own face. Frowning thoughtfully, the girl dabbed a finger at the spot he indicated. When she nodded again, he began to wipe at the speck of seafood, sparing a quick look at Valmet to find her completely oblivious. Rock didn't look entirely comfortable with the contact, but she didn't try to stop him.

When he was certain the speck was gone, Jonah crumpled the napkin up to toss it into another garbage. That done, he gave her a small smile. Rock returned it.

xXx

The two blades crashed together, each impact resonating in the store. Rock's sword slashed at her doppelgänger again and again, snarling in effort. Every attack she made was met by her foe, who continued to show nothing beyond her blank expression. While Rock was giving it her all, the Otherworlder was only blocking or parrying the strikes, nothing more.

Though still dizzy, Jonah reached for his Browning, wondering why it seemed so far away. He didn't reach it in time; an indistinct figure seemingly appeared before him, kicking the pistol away. The masked person roughly grabbed his shoulder, making the teen's instincts react. Jonah struggled hard, for a second dislodging the attacker's grip. When he threw himself towards the last place he saw the gun, he tried to crawl as fast as his recovering body could move.

A sharp pain in his shoulder made him grunt in pain, before a peculiar numbness began to flow from the wound. Jonah's eyesight began to blur even as his thrashing slowed. In a flash of insight he realized it was some kind of drug, the last of the pieces falling into place. These men and their allied Otherworlder weren't after Koko. _They_ were the target. Before his thoughts faded into oblivion, he asked himself why. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was a loud _Boom_.

Rock jerked back, her blood spraying out. The Otherworlder drew her sword back, but instead of stabbing she balled up her metal clad hand. Throwing her fist out, she hit hard enough to send her tumbling backwards, the black sword tumbling from her limp fingers. Rock hit the linoleum and let out a strangled gasp, blood leaking freely from the jagged wound on her shoulder.

The shooter brushed past the now stopped Otherworlder, training the USP on the struggling girl. Rock jerked upwards, lights dancing down her arm once more. A second shot hitting her other shoulder put an end to that, the girl's jaw dropping as a quiet hiss of breath left her. The barrel of the .45 moved, centering the sights onto the center of the weakening girl's torso. Until a hand grasped his shoulder, making the ski masked attacker snap his head around.

His comrade, the man's features barely visible from the mask, nevertheless showed incredulity. "Brian, the fuck?!" he demanded, his words possessing a recognizable Kentucky drawl.

"I'm putting an end to this bitch once and for all" the shooter coldly replied. The Kentuckian yanked his arm away, to which the shooter resisted.

"Remember the plan, she's gotta live" he warned, only for the shooter to stab a finger at him.

"Fuck the plan" he snarled.

The Kentuckian jerked his drum fed SCAR towards the shooter; while not aimed directly at his comrade, the threat was clear. "Don't make me do this man." Glaring from under his mask, the shooter initially did nothing. Not even as Rock tried to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood. But after a moment, he lowered the weapon.

"Fine" he agreed lowly. As the Kentuckian began to relax, the shooter quickly thrusted his weapon out, firing once into the girl's leg. A fresh gasp left her, his comrade flinching at the unexpected gunshot. When his shocked eyes fell on him, the shooter replaced the USP to his holster before strolling to the unconscious teen. "She'll live" was his reply.

The Kentuckian continued to keep the shocked look on his comrade, even as he made his way to the unconscious teen. Shaking his head, he glanced to the blank faced Witch. She met his gaze, nothing more.

xXx

" _Ooh_ " Valmet was all but purring as she quickly changed directions, striding towards the open air store. She made sure her two charges were close by, the one thing which slowed her down.

Once inside, the Finnish woman could only stare in wonder. Jewelry of every type she knew of was on display, a dazzling array of colors which almost made her jaw drop. While the teenagers window shopped, she passed by a short granite wall on her way further inwards, gawking at the wares. A few local Japanese were also shopping, only one of which gave her a sour look.

Valmet didn't care. Her mind went wild with the possibilities, looking at each display with an appreciative eye. She saw bracelets, necklaces, circlets, and many more, ranging from plain gold to encrusted with precious stones. Her attention was being drawn to the watches, knowing how much Koko liked the uninspiring items. When she spotted one lined with tiny diamonds at each hour mark, she knew she had to buy it.

Glancing around, she saw Jonah and Rock standing in front of the wall display, looking at a set of rings. Valmet couldn't help the smile crossing her features; the boy was brighter than he gave himself credit for, and the girl was a pro at hiding her feelings. But neither were highly skilled with reading other people. Lehm of all people had decided he would be the one to inform the young couple that they were being blindingly obvious, warning the others to keep their mouths shut for now.

Shaking her head at the adorable pair, Valmet glanced outside to check on the weather. Immediately the color drained from her face, and she threw herself to the ground as fast as she could move.

A tide of bullets tore up the space she was a second ago, the handful of natives in the store joining her while they screamed. One man took a stray shot to his shoulder, crying out in agony while he clutched the wound. Grimacing, Valmet crawled over to help him. A woman was hunched over him, babbling in panic while she clamped onto the man. His wife perhaps, she didn't know and didn't exactly care right now.

There wasn't much the one eyed woman could do, even if she wasn't in danger. The wound was large but shallow, bleeding profusely. She ripped off a chunk of his shirt and pressed it down on the injury, briefly making his screaming rise in pitch. Before Valmet moved on she grabbed the crying woman's hands and forced them on the blood soaked rag, barking "Keep pressure on it!" regardless of her ability to understand her.

The immediate problem dealt with, Valmet drew the SIG from her shoulder holster and crawled towards the attackers. She was certain she saw three, but only two were firing. The split second view told her the shooters had a SCAR and possibly a Minimi, both pouring firepower above her head. They evidently brought along a large supply of ammo too, alternating to keep up the fire for as long as possible. A display counter hid her from view, but it wouldn't help against that amount of firepower.

When the gunfire briefly paused, Valmet risked a peek over the top. What she saw stunned her: a teenaged girl was sedately walking to the teens' cover. She wasn't just a Witch, but one who looked eerily similar to Rock. For a second the thought crossed her mind that it _was_ Rock, perhaps a new form like the downright frightening Insane state. When her pigtailed comrade rose with her sword in hand, she abandoned the idea.

The sight of the enemy Witch backhanding Jonah out of the way made her line up the SIG's sights on the girl, only for one of the attackers to fire a burst at her. Valmet yanked herself back down, hissing while she slapped a hand on the fresh injury. "Sonofa-" she grumbled through clenched teeth.

The ragged wound on her thick bicep bled profusely, her lifeblood leaking through her fingers. Despite the pain she could have risked a retaliatory shot or two, if the wound wasn't on her right arm. Valmet didn't have time to wait around; she tore off a chunk of her sweater to tie over the injury, being forced to finish the knot with her teeth. The pain was intense, but she needed functionality immediately. Three more shots boomed, deafening in the tiny space.

She heard the attackers speaking in tense tones, both of them men. Valmet briefly paused; the language they spoke was english, American accented english. Who were they? Why were they after them and not Koko? She tried to find out, but when she peeked over again the second of the men noticed and raised his SCAR at her. The woman almost let herself get shot again, her breath catching in her throat at seeing Jonah's limp form slung over the first man's shoulder.

In the distance she heard sirens, faint but growing louder over the few warning shots. While she didn't place much stock in the police's ability to stop the kidnapers, she was grateful for the help soon to arrive. From her point of view, what was more important was the nondescript van roaring to a stop in front of the store, the two men with their Witch quickly piling inside. Valmet fired twice at the van, watching the nine millimeter bullets bounce off the side before it took off.

Cursing loudly, Valmet hopped over the counter to the girl's side. Relief filled the woman at seeing Rock's heaving chest, but the three gaping injuries demanded her attention at once. She thought nothing of tearing off parts of the gasping girl's sweater, anything to stop the bleeding. "Its okay, I'm right here" she told her in a tight voice. Valmet hurried as fast as she could, knowing she had to call the others at once.

xXx

 **A/N: trying the shorter chapter shtick I mentioned before. With luck** _ **somebody**_ **won't lock me in a centipede pit again. Hope you like this, it'll be a while until I update next.**


	11. Chapter 11

**R/N; haha, youre not being let off the hook that easy. you, readers. dont review this chapter, instead complain at him refusing to wait a couple more days to add this to the last one.**

xXx

Awareness returned to Jonah, albeit reluctantly. There was much less pain than he would have expected out of the ordeal, especially in comparison to the many other times he was knocked out. Apart from his aching chest and a soreness on the back of his shoulder (plus a bit of stiffness), he felt mostly fine. The teen wasn't overjoyed at his optimal state, but it did give him hope of getting away. Idly he wondered how long he'd been out cold.

When he tried moving his arms, the limbs jerked but didn't move from their spots. Trying again, his waking mind discovered tight restraints on his wrists. A test of his legs yielded the same result, the source coming from his ankles. He blinked, realizing his eyes were open but he saw nothing. A turn of his head didn't remedy the problem. Shifting his features around informed him of why: he had a blindfold on. Jonah's mental estimation of his chances dropped by a wide margin, especially when he heard a door open from behind him.

Jonah stilled himself, taking deep breaths. Whoever it was silent as they shut the door behind them, taking their sweet time moving to the chair he was strapped to. The teen had a good idea what he was in for, not the least of which was a quick introduction. He gave consideration to the idea of spitting in their face, but he decided to put the thought on hold until he knew more. For now, patience was the key.

A slender finger felt along the back of his scalp, unmistakably female. The simple fact gave him hope and despair, though whether the fact would help him or not remained to be seen. Meanwhile the finger looped around the back of his blindfold, dragging it off him. Jonah blinked at the light flooding his eyes, despite it being rather dim. He had a couple of seconds to examine the room he was in, noting it looked like a mostly empty office.

The owner of the finger, and presumably his jailer, slowly made her way around him. He saw her outfit, black fatigues with an over shirt over her torso. Long brunette hair spilled down to the midpoint of her back, jogging his memory. He knew he saw hair like that from somewhere, but for the life of him he couldn't place it. The thirtiesh woman stopped to turn in place, leveling a cold smile in front of him.

"Hello" she greeted. The woman's tone was friendly enough, but Jonah could easily sense the menace behind the simplistic word.

Jonah steadied himself, deciding on the casual approach. "Hi. Who are you?" he asked, his face blank.

Her smile increased a notch. "These days, I go by Hex."

 **H̋̉̓͊eͨͭͧ̂̓ͬ͂x͗̒͒ͣ͒ ͩ̀͌ͨ̚t̓̅̍̈͛h̃ͥ́e͗̐̅ͨ̎̆̄m̿͊e̓̽͒̎ͬ:͌̎ͯ̽ͥ̎ͫ ͯ̏̈́̊ͩͪͪPa͑͑ͤ͒̊p̍̂å̊̉̏̔̾ ͦ̋̍͐̚Rͩͦͥͩ̅o̊̾̍͛ͪ̀aͥͯͭ͂͑̓cͬh̾͆̌ ͒͋-̇ ͗̄̈́͛G̾̑̏̓̄ͤe͛̂̑̓͐ttͭiͫͩn̍ͦ̔g̓ ͑ͮ̑͐̈ͭ̒a̅̏̚wä́yͨͣ͊̚ ͌̾̓̀ͣwͧiͭ͊́ͥ͋tͮ̾ͦ͋̒ḧ́̈́ͥͤ ͭM͐ͫ͒̓̊ͧu͆̇̆͋ͩ̐̇r̀ͪͪͨͩdé̇ͧͣ̀ͤr͑̔**

"Nice to meet you. You must already know who I am" Jonah replied, needing a moment to place the name (past an odd headache). He was mostly sure this was the same woman from the _George Washington_ , apparently the one who rescued him after he was shot. Koko held no small amount of hatred towards this woman, but she never filled him in on why.

Jonah had the uncomfortable impression he was about to find out.

"You're right. I have to say, you're even cuter in person" Hex complimented.

Despite everything, Jonah closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "Can I ask why you kidnapped me?"

"Of course. Understand its nothing personal, you're just an important part to my plan" she answered, never dropping the smile. It was like Koko's when she was angry.

"Which is?"

"Can you do something for me?" she asked sweetly. His raised eyebrow elicited a chilling laugh as she planted her arms on his, leaning down so her face was inches from his. "Its simple really. I need you to _scream_."

Jonah narrowed his eyes. "You do know Koko is going to to kill you for this" he asked neutrally, his probe rewarded by a flicker over her features as she drew back.

"Under normal circumstances, she'll certainly try. But the thing is, and this is important, I have a new friend. This friend is going to do me a real solid, provided I run an errand for her" Hex explained enigmatically, bringing up one hand to crack her knuckles. "In a way I pity you. You're a child soldier whose going to suffer for the sake of an arms dealer. Shame really."

"You can try" Jonah curtly told her, hiding his fear.

Again her smile increased a notch. "You shouldn't try to challenge me. I'm going to hurt you, gonna make you scream more than you ever have before. While you're screaming, I'm going to livestream it to the team of mercenaries you call friends" she paused to giggle, a sound which sent a shiver down his spine. "But there's only one of them I care about. When she sees you in agony, it'll be a perfect storm of insanity."

Jonah's breath caught in his throat, fear written across his young face. Hex smirked. "This is what's known as a 'two birds with one stone' situation. I'll get rid of the monster you're so obsessed over, then destroy Koko. There is the minor risk of a part of Tokyo getting nuked, but it'll be a worthy sacrifice."

"You don't know what she's capable of" Jonah warned coldly.

"I've read all the reports, looked at all the available footage, and spoken to several survivors this so called Insane form left behind. I should be telling you that. Now" Hex turned away, going to a small table in the corner. After a few seconds she returned, a set of electrical nodes in one hand and a small camera with a tripod stand in the other. The smile on her face told the teenager he was in for a rough time.

" _Lets get started._ "

xXx

Rock gasped in pain, making Valmet curse under her breath. "Can you try to drive straight?" she barked.

As if to mock her, the SUV swerved around a corner, jarring the trio in the bed of the vehicle. Valmet scowled as Mao tried to keep the girl still, stopping her from moving as much as he could. As the Finnish woman applied the contents of the medical bag to her, she sent an annoyed look at Wiley behind the wheel; she knew it wasn't his fault, nor was it Lutz's strained navigation. They needed to get to the embassy as soon as possible to regroup. But after what happened, she wasn't feeling charitable right now.

"Hey, hey, take it easy" Mao gently assured the struggling girl. Even after a shot of painkiller she was still thrashing, though the masses of bandaging over her gunshot wounds staunched the bleeding. Valmet was starting to apply another wrapping, knowing Rock needed much more than the emergency treatment she was giving.

The SUV lurched once again, eliciting a curse from both her and Mao. This time, the forward movement told her they had come to a stop. Valmet hoped it was because they were in front of the embassy. If they were caught in traffic, she was fully prepared to step outside waving a gun. She didn't care about the panic it would cause, right now she wanted nothing more than to fill the unknown kidnappers full of holes. Fortunately for everyone involved Lutz announced, "We're here!"

Wincing at the jolt of pain on her arm, Valmet crawled towards the back door to fling it open. She hopped out, at once turning around to grab Rock's boots. The woman felt her heart break when she heard the young girl let out a strangled gasp, still raw from the three bullets she received. Her healing abilities may have been phenomenal, but twenty minutes wasn't enough time.

Nevertheless, despite the powerful grimace on her features Rock stood up on her own, even if Mao had to help her move. Flicking her eye away, Valmet saw Wiley and Lutz darting to them, both men carting extra rifles heedless of the public eye. She accepted her weapon, nodding satisfactorily at the freshly loaded magazine before turning to the unassuming building. As she watched the front doors were thrown open, five figures practically running out to meet them. In the center of the four men was Koko, making a beeline towards their SUV.

"We got played on this end, how about you?" Lehm reported grimly as he rejoined them, his unsmiling face going first to the limping girl, then to Valmet's hastily bandaged arm.

"Jonah got kidnapped, two or thee guys with machine guns and a Witch" Lutz reported, loading a magazine into his own rifle. Ugo and R came back from the SUV they took, carting extra weapons.

"Of goddamn course" Tojo muttered as he accepted a Magpul Masada, "Turns out there is no Colonel Pham, at least no one who matches the description of our client. I dug a little, this whole thing has CIA fingerprints all over it. Lehm's right, we got duped hard" he reported darkly, slapping his forehead.

When the pale woman stepped around the two men, everyone in sight reflexively flinched. Koko wasn't smiling.

"First question. Who's responsible?" the air itself seemed to chill with the question. Her cold gaze roamed over the returning five, noting the two injured. The look on her face was the closest any of them had ever seen to unbridled rage.

Valmet couldn't stop herself from gulping first, knowing how dangerous her lover was right now. "They sounded like Americans, and saw a SCAR and a Minimi. Rock was closer, but they didn't kill her."

Koko walked closer to the girl, who was leaning against the side of the SUV. Rock continued to take shallow breaths, even as she looked up to meet the pale woman's gaze. Mao hurriedly shoved his phone at her, the injured girl taking it with a wince.

"Tell me everything you can" Koko calmly ordered, for the moment uncaring of her wounds. Rock nodded, bringing the phone up to type. Her pace was agonizingly slow, wearing on the nerves of the gathered mercenaries. A few pedestrians gave the armed group some puzzled looks, which none of them paid any attention to.

Rock suddenly frowned, holding the phone to the side while she looked at her side. "What's wrong?" Koko suddenly demanded, eyes narrowing. Rock reached into her pants pocket, digging around for a moment before drawing her hand back out. In her gloved palm was her own phone, buzzing insistently.

Mao gingerly took it from the girl's open hand, confusedly reporting "Its a call, from Jonah" before handing it over to Koko. Unlike him she snatched the phone away and clicked the call icon, planting it to her ear.

"Jonah?" she demanded.

" _Not quite._ "

Koko froze, her anger disappearing in a flash. For a second, raw fear replaced it. "Hex."

" _That's right Koko. You'll never guess what I found._ "

Instantly a fearsome scowl overtook the pale woman, her bodyguards wincing helplessly. "What did you do to Jonah!?" she shouted into the speaker.

" _A favor, part of a mutually beneficial relationship._ " The CIA agent's voice had a smug edge, grating on her nerves. " _Short version, I hope you enjoyed the last day of your life. By sunrise tomorrow, it'll all be over._ "

"The hell are you talking about? And where's Jonah!?" Koko snarled.

Over the line, she heard the agent giggle. " _I'll tell you, but first, there's something I want you to do. It'll take ten, fifteen seconds tops. Then I'll tell you exactly where I am. Scouts honor._ "

Koko's eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

" _Maybe. Or maybe I'm telling the truth. How badly do you want to find out?_ "

"Boss, details?" Lehm pressed, frowning hard while Hex told Koko what to do. As they all were.

The pale woman was slow to act, sucking in a breath through her nostrils. Her feet carried her in an uneven pace, bringing her closer and closer to the pigtailed girl. Rock wore a confused expression while Koko approached, finally raising a brow when she held the phone out. A light shake indicated what to do.

Hesitantly Rock accepted, putting the phone to the side of her head when her boss gestured for her to do so. The eyes of all nine of them settled on the girl, watching her confused expression while she listened to whatever Hex was telling her.

"What's she saying?" Lutz wondered aloud, several nods showing agreement.

Rock's breath caught, her entire body stiffening. The phone slipped from her limp fingers, falling to the ground.

"What the...?" R's confusion didn't slow him down when he saw the girl sway on her feet. He and Mao grabbed her just as Rock went limp, the girl breathing raggedly. Grimacing as he held her arm, he briefly exchanged looks with the others.

"What did she tell her?" Ugo demanded, as Valmet quickly snatched up the phone from the pavement. When she brought it to her ear, the woman quickly discovered the line was dead, making her curse.

"Hey, hey, easy, its..." Mao trailed off, suddenly fixated on the arm he held. The color drained from R's features when he saw it: something dark was coming over her skin, both atop and underneath. It was causing her flesh to ripple, thin black smoke enveloping her form.

"Oh shit" R whispered under his breath, letting go immediately to cause Mao to stumble. Memories of more than seven months ago flashed in front of his eyes, realizing at the last second what Hex had done.

Rock pitched forward, yanking her limb from the chinese man's grip. Wrapping her arms around her torso, she staggered while the rippling black crawled up her neck. Stray pebbles on the ground around her began to tremble on their own accord, as her human friends began to back away. Unseen by any of them, her expression was one of utter terror.

Black Rock Shooter threw her head back and screamed.

xXx

The feed from the camera turned into static, grainy footage vanishing into oblivion. Whether the camera was destroyed or the signal was interrupted ultimately didn't matter to her. Phase one was a success.

Flipping the laptop closed, Hex turned back to her handiwork. Jonah was still heaving for breath, sweat glistening on his forehead. A glance at his pants showed he had wet himself. Unsurprising, considering she had taken a cattle prod at its maximum setting to the teen. When it burnt out, she grabbed the spare. While she did want to stretch their session out some, getting creative with the havoc she could wreak on his young body, time was of the essence.

Inwardly she was amazed it took a solid minute of being electrocuted before he finally did what she wanted. She wondered how much punishment the boy could take before he gave out, how much pain his body handle before it failed. A small part of her was curious; how much of his resistance was due to his Otherworld contact, and how much was him. It was a question for another time, to be answered when Hekmatyr was in her grasp.

She smiled dangerously at him, unmindful of how he was barely conscious. "Thanks for the help. Good news is it's almost over" she told him cheerfully, going for her radio next. It was time for Phase Two to begin.

xXx

Koko hit the ground hard, forcing the air out of her lungs. What little the blast didn't take away anyway. A lucid portion of her mind wondered if she was almost hit by an artillery shell; the parallels were eerily similar. When she tried taking in a breath, the woman was wracked by a cough. Part of it was some dust which was mixed in, most was the pain stemming from her ribs.

She wasn't going to be stopped however. Forcing the pain back, Koko groaned as she pushed herself up. The normally tidy pavement she laid on a moment ago was covered by stray debris, little of it larger than her fingernail. When she tried looking around, a mop of white obscured her vision. Groaning, she flopped her now disheveled hair out of the way.

Koko started counting the second she spotted the first prone form nearby; Lehm was sitting up with a groan of effort, Ugo was on his hands and knees trying to rise, Tojo was checking his now cracked glasses before he got up, and Lutz was feebly rolling. Turning her head, she felt especial relief at seeing Valmet sitting up fully (despite the blood leaking from her scuffed bandage), R coughed while he recovered, Mao laid against a pole while he checked himself over, and Wiley was staggering back to his feet.

There were other cries nearby, apparently from pedestrians caught in the blast. Ordinarily she tried her best to keep the common folk out of her way, caring more about minimizing problems than their wellbeing. Now, she wondered how many were injured because of her moment of weakness.

Stopping another cough, Koko sat up fully. She turned her numb gaze towards the edge of the sidewalk, where they were gathered a few minutes ago. The SUV was in the middle of the street, flipped over from the force of the blast. But she didn't pay any attention to that.

A single huddled form was present at the same spot Rock was. Around the figure was a small crater, showing many signs of a compact bomb going off. As she watched, a single part of the object detached, curling upwards with amazing dexterity. When the tip of the unknown object slammed into the ground, she identified it as a sword. It was barely recognizable as such, the black metal twisting into a jagged edge. On the hilt was a chain, moving on its own accord.

Two more objects detached, both substantially larger while they rose, before coming down less than a meter from the figure. One appeared to be an old M60 machine gun, if it were colored a glossy black and covered in uneven spikes. The other bore a vague resemblance to Rock's cannon, but larger and with a triangular blade on the end. Only when all three weapons were on the ground did the figure rise.

Koko stared, it was all she could do. Stare at the armored vest fitted to her chest, at the shaped metal covering her legs from the knees downwards, the metal gloves tipped by small sharp claws, the left arm appearing to be mechanical, and at the single black plate covering her head. A large white X was emblazoned on the metal, seeming to emphasize the new addition. The girl stood up fully, keeping her eyes closed as she made little movements throughout her body. When she creaked her eyes open, her empty purple eyes met Koko's cerulean ones. A purple flame ignited over her left eye.

The eye of Insane Black Rock Shooter.

xXx

 **Trackplay: Bullet for my Valentine - Waking the Demon.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: You guys are awesome, I mean it.**

The only thing which saved Koko's life was a foolish cop.

" _Freeze!_ " Turning her head, Insane Black Shooter took her gaze off of her, leaving the unnaturally still weapon pointed in her direction. Standing a short distance away, the Japanese policeman stood in a near perfect two handed shooting pose as he trained his sidearm on the armored girl. How he got there so fast or where he got the pathetically tiny revolver, Koko didn't know. All she registered was a surge of guilty relief at that burning stare being turned away from her.

 _Pop_ went his one and only chance, the tiny Model 37 jerking in his grip. Insane Black Rock Shooter didn't flinch, not even as the bullet merely pinged off her shoulder. Both the cop and her matched gazes for a split second, though his fear couldn't have been more different from her empty eyes.

An eye blink, and she was upon him. Swinging the rounded barrel of her cannon, Insane Black Rock Shooter easily backhanded the brave but foolish cop, sending him flying a half dozen meters away. It was impossible to say whether she killed him or knocked him unconscious. Before he hit the ground the corrupted girl heard more screaming, tantalizingly close, catching her attention. She was off in an instant, ignorant of her near victims rousing themselves up to chase her.

She didn't have to go far to find more humans, slowing her pace from a sprint to a light jog. Once she saw a few people milling around, she downgraded it to a power walk. Her speed made no difference in the end, and neither did the first handful recognizing what it was that bore down on them. Their immediate fear spurred the others behind them, onlookers who were curious about the explosion, into desperate panic.

Seconds turned a murmuring crowd into a flighty mess, screaming as they ran. A few were knocked aside by more fit humans, left to die in order to save themselves. All the while Insane Black Rock Shooter was after them, slowing down once she had a clear view of her first new victims. Passing by an abandoned car, the girl raised her M60 in one hand. Its recoil would make aiming impossible, but it didn't matter to her. Targets were everywhere after all. Idly she glanced to the vehicle, starting to flex her hand in anticipation.

Insane Black Rock Shooter froze. Her stoney countenance fractured, eyes widening while her breathing rapidly picked up. A snarl left her throat as she swung the corrupted machine gun towards the car, smashing the offending glass into a crackling spiderweb of safety glass. For good measure her free hand was flung out, her fist tearing a jagged hole through the glass. Yanking it back out, Insane Black Rock Shooter sullenly shook her hand free of the offending material.

Her breathing was subsiding, returning to normal. Puffs of half frozen condensation marked her exhales in the chilly air, her outburst dissipating as fast as it arrived. When Insane Black Rock Shooter turned back to the emptying street, the only remainder of her brief rage was the mauled door. Her footing was faintly uneven as she once again stalked towards anyone living, putting the memory of what she saw behind her.

The corrupted girl made it a couple paces when she was stopped by a bellow of, " _Rock_!"

Again her expression flickered, Insane Black Rock Shooter recognizing the speaker at once. Thinking of how much she didn't like the worrying tone of voice, the girl turning to meet the Finnish woman.

Valmet panted hard when she hastily skidded to a stop, unarmed as far as she could see. Faint worry crossed the girl's features at seeing her bandage leaking blood; she had half a mind to ask who was it that hurt her this time, so she could stop them. Meanwhile Valmet gulped, sparing a look at her flanks. The rest of the men were sprinting to them, taking cover behind different cars once they were close enough.

"Stop, please" Valmet all but pleaded, raw fear over her face.

In response Insane Black Rock Shooter tilted her head to the side, confused at her fear. She was her friend, why was she afraid? Her weapons rippled around her, reacting to her puzzlement.

"Calm down Rock" called Lehm, poking over the top of a car with his Magpul Masada aimed at her. Her gaze drifted over the area, spotting the others in similar positions. All were aiming their weapons at her, showing plenty of reservation.

 _Why?_ she asked herself. Was it because she didn't recognize them at first? Were they mad at her for doing something wrong?

R abandoned his cover, slowly advancing on her with his rifle lowered. Valmet shot him an incredulous look, which he answered with a silent scowl. He visibly flinched when Rock began to take steps in his direction, hoping for answers. Nevertheless, he gulped before holding up a placating hand. "Easy killer, easy there."

Insane Black Rock Shooter paused in confusion, her wrinkling brow causing R to stop too. When she glanced around, he hesitantly did the same. Upon seeing nothing, she returned her attention to him and opened her mouth.

" _...ah..._ " a clawed hand reached up, massaging her aching throat. It hurt so much, but without her phone she had no way to communicate beyond vague gestures. It was why she was given the thing in the first place, so she could get across what she wanted. A related thought suddenly made her seek out Mao's location, frightening the poor man when she leveled a glare at him.

Both Valmet and R exchanged a look, utterly lost. But when they turned forward, the two began to approach her carefully, in spite of the frantic whispers from the others.

"What's wrong?" Valmet questioned lowly once she was closer, trying her best to avoid making sudden moves.

Insane Black Rock Shooter lowered her hand, frowning thoughtfully. The two hesitantly came closer, watching every move the girl made. Upon his boss's insistence, Lehm abandoned his own cover, keeping his rifle trained on the girl. At the same time, he held onto the pale woman's arm tightly, to stop her from getting in front of him. The armored girl turned her blazing eye towards him once he was closer, watching as he allowed Koko around him.

Sending a brief scowl towards Lehm first, Koko cleared her throat before facing the girl. "Rock, I don't know how much of you is in there, but I need you now more than ever." Insane Black Rock Shooter tilted her head to the side, leveling a confused look at her.

Bracing herself, Koko pressed on. "I can't order you around anymore, so I'm asking. I need you to help us to get him back, before Hex kills him. You're our only chance to save-"

 _Crack._

The ricochet tore a thin gash in Koko's sleeve, just before Insane Black Rock Shooter staggered to the side. While she watched, the girl gingerly brought her hand up to rub her apparently uninjured head, where the bullet struck home. Of her men, they did what they were supposed to; moving their crosshairs from the girl to the second floor of the shortish building. Ugo and Lutz fired began firing short bursts, hoping to suppress the shooter.

A second gunshot hit Rock's shoulder, briefly jerking it back. Koko had just enough time to realize she didn't recognize the report of the gun before the girl snapped her head to the building. The emptiness of her expression gave way to a powerful scowl, her eye flame burning brighter than a moment ago. Even if Koko shouted at her, she wasn't going to listen.

Insane Black Rock Shooter crossed the street in a seconds time, bounding up the side of the building without pause. The tiny window where the shooter fired at her was shattered instantly, unable to halt the engine of death from bursting into the room. Hitting the thin floor, the girl snapped her head up to search for the unseen attacker. The edge of a leg vanishing around a door was all the information she needed.

Darting into the stairwell, she spotted a man in a cheap suit running as fast as he could to the ground floor, a wooden framed rifle in his grasp. She didn't bother with the steps, instead leaping out onto the far wall to jump towards the door he ran towards. He almost made it through when the girl caught up with him, kicking his back hard enough to shatter his spine.

The man landed in a sprawl, screaming in pain while she advanced on him. She picked out details about him, briefly focusing on the pattern of tattoos on his neck. Idly a memory from Tojo surfaced, something about gangsters from Japan being fond of tattoos. Yakuza they were called, she thought so anyway. The man tried reaching for the long rifle nearby, but she was on him first. His pleading came to an end when her jagged sword slid into her grip, seeming to move on its own as she thrusted the blade into his chest.

Glancing at the rifle, Insane Black Rock Shooter let her attention wander as she yanked her weapon out of the man. The bolt action rifle seemed familiar, something she read up on a while ago. It looked like the gun in the old black and white photos she saw online long ago, back when the country tried to conquer its neighbors. Arisaka maybe? It didn't matter to her. She thought about taking the gun, but when her M60 slithered in view, the idea was forgotten.

When Insane Black Rock Shooter stood back up, she finally discovered where she was. A large room, a shop maybe, filled with mirrors.

The hollow look on her features vanished. Her lips began to quiver uncontrollably, a shiver crawling all over her body. Her legs, her arms, they all began to shake. Desperately she swung her head around, but the mirrors were everywhere. The cannon leapt into her hand, sweeping around while the barrel shook from her vibrating hand. In seconds she was gasping, trying to get her body working to destroy the illusions. But she couldn't. The glimpse in the car window was nothing compared to this.

In every mirror, she saw herself. Not as she was now; each one was pure, uncorrupted, and whole. The reflections were pounding on the glass, crying out in fear at her. No sound left their throats, but Insane Black Rock Shooter heard what they were yelling, shouting, _screaming_. With silent voices they pleaded, extolling her. As one the many reflections, dozens, hundreds maybe, repeated the same thing. The unheard cries cut her to the core, shattering her composure instantly. Two words, only two, left their many mouths.

 _Save him._

Insane Black Rock Shooter's legs gave out. The girl fell to the floor, chest heaving while her eyes were wide open. Unable to move, unable to fight, and unable to escape. She tried retreating into the welcoming madness once again, but the voices wouldn't let the oblivion take her. She tried to fire her weapon, but the hand refused to obey her, letting the cannon slip away to limply fall to the floor. The chant kept repeating, the endless number of reflections pleading with her to act.

 _Save him, save him, save him, savehimsavehimsavehimsavehimsavehimsaveJonah-_

Insane Black Rock Shooter gasped, twitching uncontrollably like she was in a seizure. The flame over her eye flickered, threatening to go out. From one of the doors another Yakuza exited; the man's gasped at the sight of the crippled girl, but when she didn't get up he fought down his fear. He went back into his hiding place, a secret gambling parlor, and returned with a sawed off shotgun. Carefully approaching the girl, he pointed the weapon at her head and cocked the twin hammers.

The girl didn't react to the man above her. Nor did she react when a burst of gunfire sent him stumbling back, red blood splattering his suit as he fell. What Insane Black Rose Shooter did finally react to was the hand falling on her shoulder. Blearily her eyes fell on the pale limb, tracking it up towards the thin smile on the woman's face.

"What're you doing on the floor?" Koko asked softly, smiling as she faintly quivered. Her hand sought out the metal limb, her fingers wrapping securely around the armored palm. "C'mon, get up."

The woman's first yank was fruitless; the arm tugged hard but the rest of her didn't move. Insane Black Rock Shooter was still, unable to believe Koko was really doing this. On her part, the pale woman gave her an annoyed look. "Get up, I don't pay you to lay around."

Rippling over the floor, the chains behind Insane Black Rock Shooter drew themselves up. The ends of her weapons planted into the floor, providing her assistance to rise. Koko kept ahold of her hand, even when she was fully on her feet. With a tug she led her away from the two bodies, past a wary Mao and guarded R. Ugo, Valmet, Lehm, Wiley, Tojo, and Lutz were all outside, carefully tracking her in the chilly air.

"Alright Rock" Koko turned so she faced her, looking the corrupted girl in the eye without letting go, "We're gonna go save Jonah. You in?"

Insane Black Rock Shooter swept her visage around; she saw the fear they all had, saw how badly they wanted Koko to get away from her. But the pale woman showed no fear, not anymore. Instead her blue eyes shown with powerful determination.

" _...sss..._ " the girl tried to get out, her throat aching from disuse. The noise which left her mouth was raspy, unable to work right. She thought she heard one of the men quietly swear, but she couldn't tell. It didn't matter, she had to do it. " _...ssa... sa..._ "Finally she took a breath, forcing herself to act through her rusty vocal cords.

" _Save Jonah._ "

Koko's smile increased to a full toothed grin, ignoring the raw surprise from the others. "That's right lovebird, let's go get your man back. Tojo?" she called out.

The japanese man quietly cursed as he dug for his own device, bringing up the rarely used program built into each of their phones. Insane Black Rock Shooter wrinkled her brow, hearing a voice in her ear. She turned her head down the street as Tojo finished up.

"Got his phone's location. He's about ten kilometers that way..." when he looked up, Tojo faltered. His finger was pointing in the same direction the girl was now looking.

"Welp" Koko let go, grinning madly as she stopped questioning the impossible. "What're you waiting for? When you see Hex, give her my regards. Or tell her I said die in a fire, your pick."

Insane Black Rock Shooter brushed past her, ignoring all of them now. She listened, hearing the distant warble of voices and the increasing pitch of incoming sirens. None of it mattered anymore. All that did was where she needed to go.

She rolled her head on her shoulders, taking a deep breath. In the blink of an eye she was off, a whoosh of air swirling around where she was a moment prior.

"Godspeed you crazy fool" mumbled Ugo.

Koko clapped her hands together, spinning around to face the men. "Alright, we're not done on this end. White Rock Shooter is going to be here soon, we have to slow her down any way we can. Find a car, I'll handle-"

The hand landing on her shoulder halted her excited planning, making her confusedly look to him. Lehm met her gaze, and slowly shook his head.

"We're not doing a thing" he stated, keeping calm even as practically everyone started to gawk at him.

"Say what!?" Wiley sputtered in shock, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Wha? What gives?" Lutz demanded, speaking for the others.

"Its up to us to slow-" Koko stopped when he gripped tighter, as he swept his empty expression over them all.

"We're not gonna do anything, because we _can't_. White didn't like us on principle before, but after the last time she popped in, she's going to hate _you_ especially" he directed towards Koko, "I don't like it either, but keeping our heads down is the only way any of us are going to live to see tomorrow" he finished. In the distance, he heard approaching sirens. A lot of them.

Tojo in particular grimaced. "Hate to say it, but I think he's right. She's not going to be in a real talkative mood" he explained, wincing at the harsh looks he received.

Lehm nodded, releasing his hold. "Lets go. Before the cops get here" he said, just as Koko suddenly hissed in pain. She gripped her arm, her self control briefly slipping. Surprise flashed over her features, along with no small amount of fear.

xXx

Several large trucks with Tokyo Metropolitan PD markings rolled to a halt right before the hasty perimeter the beat cops established. The doors on the back were flung open, and out poured almost two dozen men. Each wore heavy ballistic armor and shields, carrying a mix of rare AA-12 shotguns and MP5 SMGs, with a couple of Type 89 rifles for range. They moved swiftly and efficiently, for these were no ordinary policemen.

The two units of the prefectural Special Assault Team formed up, ignoring the growing crowd of pedestrians or the very nervous local cops. Above them, a helicopter roared, going to the roof of a skyscraper to deposit a sniper team. Seeing the support unit in position, the commander of the specialized Anti-Otherworlder Task Force, unofficially known as the Witch Hunters, signaled his men.

Ordinarily the SAT unit would storm a building containing a Witch, not jog into a potential killing zone. But since target was rude enough to appear in the middle of the street, they had no idea where it could be at the moment. It wasn't a wise decision on the police chief's part, but he had the grim choice of waiting on either the proper Special Forces Group of the JGSDF or asking the Americans at Yokohama for a specialized unit they may or may not have on hand, giving the Witch free reign to kill more pedestrians or hide itself in a veritable maze. Or they could over in with fewer preparations than normal, and risk his own men's lives. It was perhaps the hardest call he ever had to make.

The point man closed in on the corner of a building, him and the rest of his team hugging the walls. Peeking around the corner with his rifle at the ready, he swept his armored visage around for the hostile. He didn't see a living thing, making the man gesture to the others behind him. Seconds after he left his cover to move out into the street, the radio in his ear crackled.

A black dot materialized in the middle of the street, starting as a marble sized orb which quickly ballooned into a large sphere. As the first SAT men formed up, the second team took positions behind them, all eyes focused on the hole in reality. The pitch black sphere rippled once, before spitting out a single figure. Her boots tapped on the recently plowed pavement, done with more grace than any of the onlookers would expect.

As the sphere faded away, the girl with dark skin and white hair started to walk, appearing unfazed by the cold despite her thin outfit. While she walked, the girl outstretched an arm to clench her fist. Dancing lights moved from her palm, racing out to craft a weapon from the ether.

As could be expected from these monsters, it was both ornate and menacing, much more so for this one; instead of a sword or convoluted gun or some other construct, what the inhuman girl now held was a large scythe. It was longer than she was tall, sculpted with patterns that caught the wandering eye, and strangely looked to be made out of reflective silver rather than the usual glossy black metal.

The girl paused after several paces, turning her pigtailed head to the closest SAT trooper. While he trained his sights on the girl, she lowered the scythe to her side. A cold smile graced her features as she raised a single hand to point at him.

" _Step aside human, I am not here for you_ " she called out in flawless Japanese, an unmistakable order.

Briefly hesitating at the very un-Witch like behavior, the trooper stepped a meter away from his position, flicking his eyes to the direction of the sharpshooter. If she charged, the thing would be shredded by a dozen weapons at once. Doing so left room for the commander to move up to his former spot, letting him get a good look at the unusual Witch.

Tugging his balaclava down, the leader shouted, " _Lower your weapon and surrender._ "

The girl never lost her dark smile, the malice underneath plainly visible. When she brought the scythe up, the men tensed. A shimmer seemed to ripple over the curved blade, coating the already sharp edge. Raising a free hand, the greave on her palm was pointed at them, the air itself beginning to shudder. Far above, the sniper fired.

Echoing over the entire area, report was loud enough to be heard for a whole block. But the sound was slower than the bullet, leaving his PSG1 with lethal force. It crossed the several hundred meter gap in an instant, promising a swift death to a target who was proving exceedingly cooperative. A microsecond before it struck her chest, a white colored flash of electric light blossomed. There was a whistle of a ricochet, but nothing else happened.

Nothing, save for the girl turning her smile upwards to the sniper.

She yanked her greave around, a tiny silver sphere obediently floating above her palm. The surface of it glowed for a moment, a brilliant shade of blue that hurt the eyes of anyone who looked into it. Seconds later the top of the building erupted into a billowing flame, a concussive boom chasing the fire. Debris rained down, ranging from pebble sized flecks to dangerous chunks of falling concrete.

Needing no more encouragement, the SAT squad opened fire. Every bullet they flung her way was intercepted by the unseen shield, making it crackle with electric light. The patterns wrought by the deluge of lead were mesmerizing, not unlike falling rain. Neither then men nor the girl cared however. The former poured everything they had into stopping the Witch, and the latter merely turned her attention back to them.

When the squad's weapons clicked empty, she counterattacked. The girl swept her scythe in front of her, well away from the men. A millisecond later the side of the building crumpled, the concrete shattering under the sheer force. Half the men were reduced to piles of crushed flesh in an instant, those on the edge keeping their bodies together only by their outfits. The remaining half were knocked of their feet, only a couple not crippled for life.

Nodding in visceral satisfaction, the Witch turned to walk away. When she cleared the side of the ruined building, more gunshots pinged off her barrier. Without looking she swept her hand in their general direction, the wall of gravity annihilating most of the second team and half of the building facings behind them, flinging a cloud of debris into the air. Far above the devastation the chopper hovered, the men on board too shocked to react. Their inaction spared them from her wrath, as she methodically followed the unseen path to her target. Whatever was in her path had but two options: stay put and die, or flee and survive.

This time, nothing was going to get in White Rock Shooter's way.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Yeah, sorry guys. This should have been out yesterday, but life bit me again. Bad news is You Came Back is almost done, which** _ **sucks**_ **.**

xXx

Flinging the door open, Hex was on the move at once. The rogue agent caught up with several of her men making their way to the roof, not minding the curt nods of acknowledgement they gave her. This was perhaps the most important operation of their careers, passing on the usual gestures of respect wasn't something to get worked up over. They had their hands full, and in a minute's time she did too.

Of the boy, she pushed him out of her mind. After leaving him strapped to the chair, she locked the door on the off chance he escaped from the bindings. As far as she was concerned, it was enough. Hex thought it was a bit of a shame; she really wanted to see what it would take to break the teen, but business came before pleasure. For now, phase two was in full effect

"You guys ready for this?" Hex asked wryly, grunting when she picked up the heavy mortar.

Hefting the large Javelin missile system, Hanover grinned. "You know it boss" he answered enthusiastically, even as he struggled with the weapon.

Her eyes caught Beast picking up the accompanying large box of HE shells, eyeing the strained yet silent girl for a moment. She didn't think for a second there was nothing else to Black Rock Beast, that she was Ram's equivalent to a wet works operator for times she couldn't safely perform her missions. The operation to acquire the boy proved her worth, but that didn't mean Hex was going to let the supposedly cloned warrior hear all of her dirty secrets.

Connely got the door for them, holding it open for the small procession to head up the fortunately short flight of stairs towards the roof. Once they were through he darted over to set up the bipod for her, before rushing back for more supplies. Bobby and Steve were present already, passing on transporting the munitions in favor of setting up the next stage of the plan.

The CIA operative picked the abandoned office building as their base of operations for three reasons: the first being the demolition slated for the next couple weeks, making the cleanup to hide their activities as easy as wiring in explosives. Two, given the relatively run down section of Tokyo they set up in, the risk of police finding them was much reduced. With the amount of ordinance she brought along (plus their escape chopper), she didn't need any more attention than was absolutely needed.

Hex surveyed the roof quickly, briefly noting the overcast sky was starting to clear up. Grunting indifferently, she briefly glanced over the wide yet mostly empty broadway leading to the building, a rare combination of size and sparseness that was so rare in Tokyo. To her eyes, it was a near perfect killing ground. For a reason three of her choice, she could do far worse.

Bobby and Steve were still setting up their gear, preparing the weapons for the next act. Steve in particular was grinning broadly as he worked on his baby, giving it an unhealthy amount of attention as he had for an hour now.

"Sup boss?" the former asked genially as he finished putting the scope on his bipod mounted M107, with no sign of his earlier frown.

Hex took a breath first. The veteran groaned as she lowered to a squat, setting the twenty kilogram M224 onto the freshly shoveled roof as carefully as she could. The weapon was sturdy, but given its importance to the plan she didn't want it damaged. Once she was free of the weight Hex glanced towards Hanover, who nodded to her. She returned the gesture and stood up, moving away to leave him free to boot up the finicky yet highly useful weapon.

"Bobby, Steve, status?" she questioned, aware of Beast plopping the case of shells beside Hanover. The case rattled ominously while the girl left to retrieve more ammunition.

"Good here. Always hated these damn things, but I'm glad to have it this time" Bobby told her, checking over the large sniper rifle. Hex paid a lot to slip it and several other weapons out of the storage depots at Yokohama, but it was well worth the cost for this operation.

"Good, let me know when you're ready. Steve?" Hex turned to question, letting her eyes roam over the absolutely enormous weapon the former Ranger brought.

"You have no idea how happy I am boss" he said giddily, screwing the barrel in place. As she expected, the man was grinning. Just thinking about how much the compensation sized anti-material rifle cost made her groan; the fact he bought the gun and it's pricy ammo out of his own pocket was one of the only reasons she allowed him to use it.

"I can see your hardon from here. You ready yet?" Hex snapped, glancing over the short row of bullets he had lined up next to the gun. The 14.5mm by 114mm anti-armor shells out of a surplus KPV were even larger than the .50 BMG rounds she had never liked, powerful enough to turn a man into an assorted pile of body parts.

"Almost, the Denel NTW here is a fine baby, needs more love than the bog standard fifties. Goes double with the fourteen five rounds I got, these bad motherfuckers will put an elephant down with one-"

"Fap to your gun later Steve, ETA?" Hex interrupted, checking her watch.

He huffed, annoyed at her for not sharing his enthusiasm. "Five minutes. I'm telling ya, this'll do the trick on its own."

"Well see" Hex turned away, mind churning to check for anything she may have missed. She might have considered the sight of the growing pile of weapons to be overkill in any other situation, but right now she could only wonder if it would be enough.

When the door burst open once again Hex snapped her head around, her palm already reaching for her sidearm before she checked herself. The first through was Beast carrying another box of ammo, but behind he was Connely, a tablet in hand as he looked worried. "Boss, good news and bad news."

"Lay it on me" she ordered, striding up to meet him.

"White Rock Shooter has been spotted, the metro cops lost two SAT teams trying to take her down. Based on the chatter, they're trying to evac everyone they can out of her way." he told her, grimacing while she flashed a dangerous smile.

"The bad?"

Connely coughed first. "The Japs are moving faster than we planned, a hell of a lot faster. Forward elements of the 1st Airborne Brigade are on the airfields, they'll have boots on the ground in thirty minutes. The whole block will be locked down in a hour, and they got at least three F-15 squadrons scrambling as we speak."

In a second's time Hex's expression mirrored his. "Damn, that's gonna cut an hour from our window at the least" she muttered ruefully.

"It gets worse" Connely grimaced when she gave him a harsh look. "The PM called the Okinawa garrison too, they're sending over every available combat unit they got. We're gonna have at least a battalion's worth of Marines here in under an hour, air elements are already on the way. White must really have 'em spooked."

Hex rubbed her chin, processing the information available to her. "At this rate, we'll either have to be out of here in forty five minutes or hunker down and wait. I don't think my credentials will get us out of here in one piece." she groaned, setting the problem aside. "What's Tango Prime's status?"

"Coming right at us like a cruise missile" The way Connely swallowed a lump did not go unnoticed.

The woman huffed, frowning in distaste. "Knew it, score one for paranoia."

xXx

Insane Black Rock Shooter slammed into the hood of the car, crumpling the thin metal under her armored boot. The punishment to the vehicle, and the related terror of the driver, lasted only a moment, as she immediately leaped away. Again and again she stomped on, slammed into, or simply weaved around the innumerable cars in her path, slowing her mad dash towards her target.

She snarled in anger at the endless obstacles, but she didn't stop to strike. If she attacked, then more armed humans would come. They would fall before her, but if they brought their greater weapons to bear, then it would be over. Right now, Insane Black Rock Shooter didn't need the fire from the sky which nearly finished her off before. All she needed was Jonah.

Darting in front of a squealing bus, she ran as fast as she could under the conditions. Around a moving truck, through a parting crowd of screaming humans, bounding over a screeching car, all in pursuit of her goal. She cared not for the attention she was receiving, unconcerned with the panic she was spreading. Jonah was her goal, and nothing was going to stop her.

After darting through a crowded intersection, the number of people tapered off. As Insane Black Rock Shooter rushed over the paved streets, she began to pick up speed. Flashing sirens, screams, noises and lights innumerable flew by in a blur. With her legs pumping and her chest heaving, the corrupted girl was finally reaching the limit of what she was truly capable of. For the first time in her existence, there was nothing holding her back.

Turning a corner was harder than she expected it to be, and she was forced to veer widely to avoid hitting something. Her foot brushed a street sign, off balancing her mid run. Only by throwing her chained weapons to the side did she avoid tripping; the potential damage meant little to her, but crashing would cost her time. Right now, a delay wasn't an option.

Back on track, Insane Black Rock Shooter rushed down a long open street. The fact it was oddly abandoned meant nothing to her, all she saw was an unremarkable office building at the end of an intersection. She knew Jonah was in there; she didn't understand how she knew, all that mattered was she did. It never crossed her mind the open street was a preplanned kill zone.

On the rooftop, the ex-Marine behind the scope cursed. "Target sighed!"

The five on the roof went to work; Hex dove to the ground to quickly get her M107 sighted in, as Bobby tracked the girl with his own rifle at the ready. By the mortar Black Rock Beast crouched down soundlessly, her blank gaze observing the humans around her. Hanover had just finished setting up the Javelin; upon hearing the words he'd been waiting for, he rushed to get the first missile primed. Of Steve, he alone ignored the proceedings to put the finishing touches on his precious rifle.

As Hex nestled the rifle's stock to her shoulder, she tapped the radio setup on her ear. "Tango Primes been sighted, you guys better be ready."

" _Ready on this end_ " went the staticky reply. Clicking the radio off, Hex quickly yanked a set of earmuffs on. She glanced to Bobby, who met her gaze. She nodded to him, and he nodded back. Lastly, she raised a hand to hold up a single finger. The others had set up the distractions, but it would be Hanover who triggered them.

Insane Black Rock Shooter's single minded dash was interrupted by a deafening boom from a building. She had yet to build up to her full speed, but she was still going too fast to properly react. It took a heroic effort for her to slow down, kicking the ground hard enough to crack the pavement as she frantically skidded. Before she could properly face the new threat, another explosion boomed from the opposite direction.

This one she was ready for, her entire body swaying as she stomped to a halt. The cannon and the M60 leapt into her hands, both weapons jerking towards the dissipating cloud of debris. A second ticked by, confusion filtering into her mind. But just as she started to lower the weapons, yet another boom came from behind her. Whirling around, she fired off a volley from both weapons. The purple tinted bolts tore through the air, hitting nothing but concrete. What little sanity left in the girl's mind warned her something was wrong.

For a split second Insane Black Rock Shooter registered a distant yet familiar boom, right before what felt like a truck slammed into her head. She pitched backwards, all three chains temporarily going limp. The corrupted girl didn't realize she had left the ground until she slammed into the cold pavement, a peculiar throb coming from her head.

Letting out a quiet groan, she laid on the street for a moment. She tried thinking, wondering just what it was which hit her so hard. When she pushed herself to her hands and knees, the memory clicked: the .50 cal the SEALs used. Outside of the explosives, it was the one weapon those men used which succeeded in hurting her.

She had just gotten back on her feet when a second bullet struck home, this one hitting her shin. The limb crumpled under the blow, jerking her back to the ground. Seconds later a third shot hit her shoulder, flinging her away. Grimacing as she brought herself up, she leveled her burning gaze upon the building she was after. She knew the shots were coming from up there.

On top of the roof, Bobby backed his head away from the scope, blinking. "Holy fuck, bitch just took three shots and looks pissed as all hell" he exclaimed, ears ringing in spite of his muffs. His shoulder ached horribly too, feeling like he was kicked by a horse.

"No shit" Hanover said darkly, quickly getting the mortar ready. He left the Javelin aside for a minute; it wasn't the right time yet. Instead he turned to the expressionless girl on the other side of the weapon. "Alright, when I tell you, drop one of the shells in there just like I showed you. Once its in, cover your ears. You got me?"

Beast nodded, her clawed hands picking up an HE shell. Hanover turned to Hex, waiting for the sign. It came in the form of a raised fist, with her thumb extended skyward. Making one last targeting adjustment, he swiped a hand to Beast and clamped his muffs over his ears. The Witch did exactly what he told her to do, moving with methodical precision as she dropped the shell down the tube.

When Hanover fired, the resulting blast buffeted the pair, deafening with as close as they were. But it was nothing compared to the pain Insane Black Rock Shooter went through; she jerked her head up the moment she was back on her feet, hearing a strange whistle growing louder. Without knowing precisely why, she knew the noise meant danger. She ran, crossing a dozen meters in an instant. Even a grazing hit from a .50 wasn't enough to stop her from moving, but she didn't get far enough away in time.

The blast wave from the 60mm shell whipped her chains and hair forward, the small explosive landing only a few meters from her back. Insane Black Rock Shooter felt the strange sensation of being wholly picked up, her eyes widening as she started to tumble. Fortunately her boots only left the ground for a moment, never straying more than a dozen centimeters from the pavement. Landing was a harder affair than she expected, but not as rough as she feared. Stumbling frantically, she nearly let her face impact the asphalt. Only by planting the sword in the ground did she avoid falling, the chain connecting her snapping taunt.

A wish for a reprieve went unanswered when another boom slammed into her chest, knocking her back. Another followed, jerking her leg out from other her. The third was enough to whirl the girl to the side, woozy from the powerful blows which kept striking her. When she heard the telltale whistle of a second incoming shell however, she yanked the sword out and darted forward, kicking her legs as fast as she could.

This blast washed over her, briefly deadening her hearing. But other than a stumble, Insane Black Rock Shooter felt no other after effects. And this time, she was ready.

Yanking the enormous cannon around, she planted the weapon in front of her and gripped hard. The weapon jerked from the following impact, but she held firm. Three more shots in rapid succession chased the bullet, each one ricocheting off the ad hoc shield. The blows kept forcing the weapon back, making her push ahead with a grimace.

A brief pause came over the area, but Insane Black Rock Shooter didn't remove her barrier. Instead she began to walk, keeping the flat edge of the cannon facing the building. Emboldened by the lack of a response, she picked up speed. Her mouth began to work on its own, something resembling joy in her mind at long last. Almost intelligibly, she mumbled, " _Jonah._ "

Hex pushed up to her knees, scowling. A glance showed Beast and Hanover prepping another shell, while Bobby was reloading his M107 with a grimace. When her furious gaze fell on Steve, the man initially didn't notice. It took her throwing a spent shell at his head to get him to take notice, briefly wincing while he rubbed the impact spot. Since her ears were ringing and her arm was sore, Hex didn't bother speaking. Instead she pointed at his NTW, then jabbed her hand at the target.

The former ranger ah'd and flashed a thumbs up, earning a nod from the scowling woman. With that done, Steve hunched over his thirty kilogram weapon once again, adding the final touch: inserting one of the 14.5mm rounds into the chamber and racking the bolt. He lined his body up with the weapon, grinning as he looked down the scope. He would have preferred to fire off a couple rounds first to make sure his NTW was good for accuracy's sake, but his boss was angry enough as is.

Staring at the advancing slab of metal, Steve aligned the crosshairs on the center, where he guessed her torso was. Exhaling slowly, the man curled his finger around the trigger. At less than 400 meters away, his target's distance was less than a sixth of the weapon's effective range. He had sighted the weapon to his own specifications, so there was no reason for him to miss.

A twitch of his finger, and the NTW-20 fired. The recoil buffers did their job properly, turning a bone shattering kickback into a hefty punch into Steve's shoulder. Blasting out of the barrel, the report of the massive rifle was deafening even past the muffs. Flying out at several times the speed of sound, the tungsten cored 14.5mm bullet crossed the distance between the roof and Insane Black Rock Shooter in a fraction of a second. She couldn't avoid the shot, even if she knew what it could do. Nothing could spare her from its terrible wrath.

In a shower of splintered metal Insane Black Rock Shooter's cannon was cracked in half, the forward half falling to the ground. She watched, numbly tracking the shattered cannon as it plummeted. Her tight grip slipped away, the sole thing preventing the remaining half from whipping around from the sudden lack of weight. The shear wasn't clean at all, the new end of the cannon looking as if it were chewed on.

Without meaning to, the defensive stance she kept was abandoned. Her legs were wobbly. Breathing was difficult. The remaining weapons sunk to the ground, clattering noisily.

Insane Black Rock Shooter couldn't stop her legs from giving out, her body collapsing. She slumped, her hands hitting the ground at the same time as her knees, the girl staring blankly at the pavement the whole time. She couldn't understand why her strength seemed to leave her, why she simply couldn't get enough air in her lungs. Coming out as heaves, her chest shuddered in unfamiliar pain.

Drops of black liquid landed underneath her body, an uneven patter on the frozen pavement. Insane Black Rock Shooter blinked at the thick stuff, briefly wondering where it was coming from. She lifted her arm from the ground, the limb shaking uncontrollably. Nevertheless she slowly moved the hand over, until it touched the side of her torso. A strange warmth coated her palm, spreading until it dribbled through her fingers. When she drew the limb into her field of view, she saw what it was.

The black ichor coated her gloved palm, covering parts of her fingers with the thick stuff. With a start, Insane Black Rock Shooter realized what it was. It took a monumental effort to turn her head down, for she felt weak now. When she saw the shallow flesh wound on her side, her eyes widened as a gasp escaped her.

At the same time, three of the shooters lifted their heads from their respective scopes, each dropping a jaw in astonishment. Bobby eloquently voiced their emotions with a drawn out, "I'll be damned, it worked."

"You fucking kidding me?" Hanover muttered, scrambling towards Hex. The woman was too surprised to stop him from stop him, letting the former SEAL get a long look down the scope. What he saw caused him to gasp. " _Ho-lee-shit._ "

Steve peeked up, a wry grin crossing his features as he slipped his muffs off. "Welp, guess who was right. If she kept still for a sec, I could take her head off" he claimed, needing a moment to rub his aching shoulder.

"Finish it, kill the bitch" Hanover commanded, a bloodthirsty grin on his face as he stood back up. Hex sat up, staring downrange at the girl.

"Well, that was nice. But we need her alive" she said simply, earning a glower from the African American. "Take another shot Steve, make sure its non lethal."

"Arm sound good?" he asked, inserting another bullet and racking the bolt.

Insane Black Rock Shooter gasped while she rose, pain lancing out from the wound on her side. The injury was already healing, but the severity was an order of magnitude greater than anything she had known before. She didn't let it stop her. Jonah was close, she only needed to go a little farther.

"Perfect. All that matters is she's still breathing" Hex told him, ignoring Hanover's mumblings.

Glancing at her shattered cannon, the girl snorted. She pulled the slowly regenerating weapon away, focusing her attention towards the building. Her primary weapon was neutralized, but she had other options.

"Got a preference?"

"Surprise me."

Slithering into her grip, the M60's chain curled around her left arm. Her footing seemed unstable, but she knew it was just her nerves acting up. The flash of pain went ignored, as she tightly held the machine gun in her metal grip. Her heaving chest was tightening, a growl working its way through her throat.

"Roger that" Steve answered, hunching over his weapon once more. Hanover's grumbling curses were extinguished when he slipped the ear protection on.

Insane Black Rock Shooter's breathing was picking up, her shuddering breath leaving as throaty growls. Each time she exhaled the sound was louder, until she was almost yelling. With a sudden intake of breath she stomped forward, a shout leaving her lips. Her roar was long and loud, echoing over the area in a bloodcurdling scream. Behind the scope, the human answered her challenge.

 _ **Boom.**_

Mid scream she stopped. Ever so slightly she turned her head, her wide eyes tracking her arm. Insane Black Rock Shooter was entranced; she watched the robotic limb lazily descend on its own, as if in slow motion. The M60's weight dragged the arm down, no longer hindered by the chain. Some blood flew from the end, a pattern of black ichor in the air. It was mesmerizing for the second it lasted.

 _Crack_ went the machine gun, followed by another clatter. The weapon, and the arm holding it in an unbreakable grip, hit the ground once, then twice. Then it was still.

Insane Black Rock Shooter's head turned a few more degrees, her breathing picking up into a frantic grasp. Her left arm, from the halfway point of her bicep downwards, was gone. The jagged stump leaked blood like a sieve, pattering on the ground like rain. Her right hand was trembling uncontrollably while she reached to what remained, ragged gasps leaving her throat. Meanwhile the ichor on the street was beginning to freeze, the heat vanishing in a wisp of steam.

She could do nothing. Couldn't move, couldn't fight, couldn't run. Insane Black Rock Shooter, for the first time in her life, felt utterly helpless. She failed to react when another powerful bullet slammed into her chest, blasting her off her feet. Like her severed arm she hit the ground, and was still.

Above her the overcast sky was beginning to clear, powerful rays of sunshine breaching through every opening of the clouds. Patterns formed from the clouds, things she could have recognized if she were pure. Insane Black Rock Shooter stared at the clouds, her splayed body completely limp on the frozen pavement.

The girl was cold. Up until now, the omnipresent chill in the air was kept at bay. So long as she moved and fought, she felt the caress of the cold but was free of its grip. Now, nothing halted the cold as it claimed her. Seeping through her fingers, into her skin, on her bleeding stump of an arm. All the warmth she felt came from thin lines crawling over her temples, the tears freezing before they touched the ground.

 _Save him._

Her breathing was starting to slow, her frantic intakes of breath dimming. Inside, her body was starting to shut down.

 _You have to save him._

" _...ah...ah..._ " the words tried to leave her lips, but she couldn't speak them. Animalistic noises were all she made, sounds of near pathetic despair.

 _Save Jonah._

" _Ah...I...I..._ " her throat hurt. Her arm hurt. Everything hurt. But the pain was starting to fade.

 _You can save him._

" _...ha...h...haa...how..._ " her eyes were hurting. Her lids were feeling heavy.

 _Please._

" _...sa...sa..._ " she was tired. So tired. Cold, exhausted, and numb. It seemed so easy to just... let go. Like drowning herself in the madness, she wanted to detach herself from everything. Leave her broken body behind and let the darkness claim her. No more pain, no more heartbreak, nothing else, now and forevermore. All she had to do was go to sleep, and forget the cold. Forget her desires. Forget it all. Rock closed her eyes, feeling the cold everywhere.

 _Warm_.

Creaking her eyes open, Insane Black Rock Shooter felt the sudden warmth. It rested in her remaining hand, a nub of heat in her freezing body. Blearily she wondered if it was just her imagination, since no one was coming to save her. She had tried to be the savior for once, and she had failed. Fresh tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but the warmth gently encompassed her hand, almost like someone was holding it.

For a delirious second she thought it was Jonah holding her, but surely that couldn't be right. She left to save him, how could he be here?

 _Please, let me help you._

Until now Insane Black Rock Shooter heeded the pleading voice, but made no attempt to find out what it was. She decided it was just her madness speaking, echoing what she desired. But this was different. It was impossible to tell for sure, but the voice was different from hers, different from Jonah's. Who was it?

 _Please._

Sucking in a breath took a herculean effort, the simple action draining what remained of her street. She did it so she could tip her head forward, a few degrees of movement which qualified as a nod.

The warmth seemed to guide her, dragging the corrupted girl along. She wasn't taken away from the frozen street, but the pain seemed to fall away. The binding metal, the madness, all of it was left behind. Now curious, she wondered what the warmth wanted.

A blink; she now beheld a strange sight. A sphere of fire, rippling and roiling to unknowable patterns, was in front of her. Though she knew not what it was, she could tell something was wrong with it. The flames were muted, when they should have been blazing with life. Instead of an illustrious azure, the sphere was a sickly purple. As she watched, the fire was diminishing. It was going out, forever.

The warmth left her hand to briefly orbit the fiery sphere, revealing itself as an energetic spark. When it brushed against the surface, the girl felt a flash of joy. For a second she was happy, as she had never been before.

 _Save Jonah_ , the spark told her. Somehow, she knew what she had to do.

Peering into the flickering sphere, she saw something. Inside the neurotic flames, she saw a core of brilliant white light. The light was locked deep inside, buried underneath endless layers of rippling flame. In a flash, she knew what it was. The core was power far beyond her abilities, enough strength to make miracles happen. She should have been wary of such power, knowing that such a thing never came without a price. The girl grinned wryly.

What did she have left to lose?

Black Rock Shooter plunged her hand into the burning sphere, reaching for the shining core. With no more hesitation she wrapped her hand around the blinding light, taking it within her.

xXx

 **A/N: Trivia: twelve .50 cal BMG (12.7mm x 99mm to use its actual size) bullets, two 14.5mm x 114mm bullets, two 60mm high explosive mortar shells, and one** _ **very**_ **furious IBRS were used in the making of this chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: This bears repeating: I don't own anything seen here. Wish I did, but eh. Thanks to KisaragiKei for editing this over.**

xXx

Yanking her head away from the scope, Hex involuntarily let out a yelp as she turned away. Prickling spikes danced in her eye, patches of random colors floating across her vision. She rubbed the aching eye to sooth it, which proved pointless. Despite the pain she peered down the street again; The CIA operative had to hold an arm over her forehead, squinting hard to see the cause of the blinding light. She heard the curses from Steve and Bobby, but ignored them.

It was like staring into a sunrise. By the second the white light grew in intensity, completely obscuring the target she was after. After a moment she had to look away, the light too great to look at directly.

"What the fuck is that?" Hanover demanded, standing up while protecting his eyes. Hex had no answer.

In seconds the light dimmed, though it seemed to retract backwards than fade away. In the center, she could just barely make out a lone silhouette rising from the ground. By the time the light decreased enough for Hex to safely look down her M107's scope again, the figure was already on her feet. What she saw made her pause; whereas anyone else would have been silenced by awe, Hex had to use every scrap of her willpower to stop herself from screaming.

With a last flourish Black Rock Shooter stood up fully, her long jacket rippling behind her. She was unharmed, possessing all four limbs and showing no hint of the blood from moments ago. It was more than the catastrophic damage being undone, as Hex began to tell.

Her outfit had changed: her boots had grown upwards, matching the now lengthened hot pants so only half of her pale thighs were visible. The jacket was done up, the knee length flaps now billowing behind her. White trim circled the edges while also running down the sleeves to her now bare hands, all save for the lowered hood. Both of her pigtails seemed thicker as well, the color of her skin no longer so deathly pale. The changes made her look older, more mature. The only reminder of her Insane form was the severed arm and the machine gun, which were breaking down into dust as she watched.

When Hex looked at her face however, she tensed. The girl was breathing deeply, puffs of breath leaving her mouth every time she exhaled. Her determined expression was fixated on something at an incline, far away from her.

Four hundred meters apart, Hex and Black Rock Shooter made eye contact.

"What in the fuck?" Bobby exclaimed, awed yet nervous.

When the girl started to walk forward, Hex grabbed a replacement magazine and quickly slammed it home. Her entire plan was tossed out in a heartbeat, replaced by a sole overriding objective. She had her attention focused on the girl, at that moment wanting nothing more than for her to die.

"Fire at will." she commanded. Lining up her crosshairs, she didn't bother waiting on the Kentuckian to get ready. A controlled squeeze made the heavy rifle kick against her shoulder.

Black Rock Shooter jerked her body back with the impact, but she didn't stop marching forward. It looked as if she were just punched more than anything else, the attack barely slowing her down.

"Steve, shoot already!" she barked, realigning her sights. As the man scrambled, she fired again. And again.

Each BMG round, a minute ago possessing enough force to knock the monster off her feet, just made the impact point jerk back slightly. Not one, from hers or Bobby's when he started firing too, got her to stop marching forward, resolutely staring at Hex the whole time. Finally the woman snarled, turning towards her underling to fling him away. If he wasn't going to do anything, then she would put his rifle to better use.

Steve only just saved himself. Finished by inserting a fresh 14.5mm round, he racked the bolt and settled in again. He let out a breath, emptying his lungs to steady his aim. Steve squeezed with more force than he preferred, but he was in a rush. For the third time the enormous NTW jerked against him, the shooter feeling like he was kicked by a horse. It didn't matter though; the high velocity bullet was flung downrange, going directly towards the girl's chest.

Black Rock Shooter took the hit dead center, the sheer power behind the bullet enough to finally halt her relentless movement. Her boots skidded over the pavement, the girl reflexively grabbing the injury as she was pushed back almost two meters. But she stayed on her feet.

Hex watched numbly as she saw the girl breathing deeply, before looking back up. Her arms lowered back to her sides, the girl's footing more steady than ever. Through the scope, she saw the flattened bullet drop to the pavement. Then she saw the small smirk come over her features.

Steve needed no encouragement, ignoring his shock while he quickly reloaded. The second shot had the same result as the first, driving Black Rock Shooter back another couple meters. Hex observed the emotions flitting across the girl's face: some pain, plenty of amazement, and no shortage of vicious happiness. Cursing, the ex-ranger racked the bolt and fired the NTW for a fifth time, ignoring his bruised shoulder.

Hex blinked once. In the split second she didn't have eyes on the target, she had suddenly moved about five meters to the side, missing the incoming 14.5mm round entirely. Gaping, she saw Black Rock Shooter whip her head back and forth, the look of amazement she sported looking eerily like Hex's own. The girl glanced down at her body, giving it a stunned look.

"Steve, what's the hold up?" Hex demanded loudly, after a minute of ear ringing silence.

The ex-ranger gulped. "I'm out of bullets."

"Out of- the fuck you mean you're out of bullets!" Bobby screamed at him, the bulky ex-marine jolting to his feet.

"I only packed five of these fucking things, one should've worked!" Steve screamed right back.

Behind them Hanover snorted, reserving a powerful glare towards Hex. The CIA operative promised him the death of the girl who murdered his friends, but instead it looked like she created something far worse. Whether it was incompetence or her true goal that caused this wasn't important in the end. The former SEAL made up his mind: he would kill Black Rock Shooter himself, then extract payback from Hex for deceiving him.

"Beast, get the mortar ready" he turned to order, his hard expression momentarily breaking.

Black Rock Beast stood on the ledge of the building, briefly turning her body around when she heard him. As always, ever since he first laid eyes on the Witch, her face was blank. She regarded him emptily, without so much as a hint of satisfaction or regret.

"You. Fucking-" Hanover ran as fast he could, unable to reach Beast before she daintily stepped into open air. He slammed into the ledge to peer over, just in time to catch the large black sphere, placed low enough to be out of their sight, fade into wisps. "Bitch!" he screamed at last.

Black Rock Shooter started to walk faster, in seconds breaking into a run. Faster and faster she moved, picking up speed. Her target was close, she wasn't going to let her get away.

Hex rose up, her features pinched into a grimace. "Fall back."

"Say what!?" Steve yelled, Bobby and Hanover snapping to her incredulously.

Continuing to stare down the street, Hex swallowed her pride. "Get to the helicopter. Leave everything behind, just go." Turning to look at them, she saw their shock. "Go!"

Bobby needed no encouragement, quickly beating a hasty retreat towards the stairs. Steve backed away, working his stiff limbs before stumbling to his feet. Hanover made a show of following Hex as she darted to the exit, but paused when her back was to him. He was feeling the grip of his USP, but only just stopped himself before she was out of sight. Instead he dove for the Javelin, originally set aside in case they needed it.

Steve made the mistake of glancing back down the street; for a second he hesitated, confusion on his expression. "Where the hell did she go?"

There was a whoosh of something moving, lasting for a second. In the time it took the sniper to register the object, she was upon them.

 **Trackplay: Andrew Wk - Ready To Die.**

Hanover and Steve paused, both men staring at the girl suddenly perched on the roof. Crouched over with one hand on the ledge, Black Rock Shooter lifted her head. She was breathing heavily, although not from strain. The amazement on her expression faded away, the girl's azure eyes narrowing at the closest man. All Steve could do was whisper, "Fuck me."

She hopped from the ledge, her boot landing on the expensive NTW. The heavy duty rifle stood no chance against her kick, immediately shattering in an all too brief clatter of splintered metal. Its owner had no time to even feel shock at his pride and joy being destroyed before the girl was in front of him. Drawing back a fist, Black Rock Shooter threw a punch at his midsection.

The former Ranger died from the impact alone. The power behind the blow was such that his ribcage was turned into fragmented bone, shredding his organs in an instant. But it didn't end there; the dead man's body was flung away, his legs catching on the ledge as he was pitched from the roof. The girl needed a second to process what she had done, unable to believe she managed to kill someone so easily.

A flash came from the periphery of her senses, her mind given a split second warning. That morning, she would have been dead without ever knowing the cause. A short while ago, her life would have been claimed regardless of what she did.

Now, Black Rock Shooter whirled her body around, her flattened palm held outwards. A grunt escaped her when she felt the burning head of the projectile, but she didn't waver. With the object ghosting along the top of her hand, seemingly all she had to do was _push_. The 127mm guided missile's fuse didn't allow it to detonate this early, sending the package of armor piercing destruction spiraling away from the building. Leaving behind a trail of white smoke, the missile spun twice before exploding, the shower of shrapnel flying in every direction. Some of it pattered on her back, flicking off harmlessly.

She wanted to stop and look, to see the impossible stunt she just accomplished. But right now, there were more important concerns. Black Rock Shooter narrowed her eyes at the African American, who let the Javelin fall to the ground in order to draw his USP. In response she held her hand to the side, the white lights swiftly forming an elongated black sword.

The second it was fully manifested, blue fire crawled from the edge of the grip down the blade's length, roiling like her inner fury. Black Rock Shooter paused to look at her sword, blinking in surprise as her jaw opened a little. Unlike her, Hanover didn't let the sight distract him. He aimed at her head and fired, jerking the trigger back even as the .45 rounds bounced off the girl to no effect. He kept firing even as she rushed at him, only stopping when the USP clicked empty. He never got the chance to reload.

Turning to the door, Black Rock Shooter set her gaze into a hard line. Her look only lasted a few seconds however; when she yanked on the door, its simple handle was completely ripped off. Peering at the crumpled metal in her grip, the girl was forced to rethink her plan. Grabbing the new hole in the door, she was able to swing it wide open, albeit with enough force to bash it against the far wall. She mentally shrugged at the noise, since there was no way they didn't know she was coming.

Striding into the office building, the girl dismissed her flaming sword as she opted to take the steps three or four at a time, each footfall shaking the stairs. She cleared the flight in a couple seconds, using her momentum to kick open the next door she came across. Watching the door get torn from its hinges to slam into the other side did make her wince, not intending to hit that hard. But she darted through anyway, following an unseen path. She knew Jonah was close.

Black Rock Shooter heard shouts and cries, the men inside the cramped office building scrambling to flee. A pair of men made the mistake of turning around, both raising their M4s to fire. As the bullets pelted off her, she swatted one into the wall, and delivered a punch to the other which sent him tumbling. Though she heard more, the girl stopped and moved on, leaving them be. The men here were not her objective. Instead the girl turned away, darting down the hallways in a blur.

Room after room she passed, following the faint call. What she sought was so close...

Coming around a corner, she had to stop for a second. A strange blend of residual fear and confusion halted the girl in her tracks, raising an eyebrow at the two men who froze at the same time as her. She used the few seconds of motionlessness to realize there was a rather large machine gun by the two men, the weapon rigged up on a tripod while it faced her. It dawned on the girl that it was an M2 Browning, before the man behind the triggers opened fire.

Each boom from the M2 was deafening, loud enough to shake the very walls. Grunting, Black Rock Shooter threw her arms in front of her, feeling each .50 caliber bullet slam into her. The constant patter of impacts was rough, forcing her to cede ground under the strain. While she grimaced, the man known as Connely was wide eyed, watching the heavy machine gun fail to kill the intruder. His shanghaied assistant Bobby didn't have such concerns as he fed in belts of ammo into the hungry gun, in part because he was now firmly deaf.

It took her several seconds for her to have an epiphany: the barrage of firepower wasn't harming her. The shots stung when they hit, and she couldn't hear over the thumping roar. But the pain was actually more negligible than she thought it would be, never mind the fact she wasn't even bleeding. Then the thought occurred to her; why should she just stand in place?

Both men faltered when Black Rock Shooter started to advance, every step forward careful but inexorable. The 12.7mm bullets loudly pinged off her, ricocheting and fragmenting into a tide of sparks. One such fragment bounced off in just the right way, sending a sliver of lead through Bobby's temple. The Kentuckian slumped over the glowing barrel, his flesh starting to sizzle against the red hot metal. Now slack jawed, Connely kept his fingers mashing the triggers, freezing at the wrong time.

When the M2 fell silent, the girl lowered her protective arms. She met the eyes of the gunner, her calm gaze a noticeable contrast to his wide eyed look. Finally letting go of the clicking machine gun, Connely raised his shaking hands into the air while he started to hyperventilate. She merely smiled, dropping her arms to march to him.

He tried scrambling to his feet, the girl kicking the M2's barrel to get it out of her way. Again she winced, this time because of the shriek of tortured metal from the ruined stand. The body on the weapon tumbled limply, beneath her attention. Catching the man's leg, she dragged him around to throw his flailing body down the hall she came from. His scream was abruptly cut off when he hit the floor, but she wasn't sure if he was dead or unconscious. Shaking her head, she decided it didn't matter, and moved on.

After another minute, she came to a stop once more. Even if Black Rock Shooter didn't have the feelings guiding her, the sight of a door with a thick set of locks on it would have telling enough. Before she tried entering, she realized there was a pair of hoops on both sides of the frame. Glancing to the side, she saw a steel bar on the floor nearby. Like someone had tossed it aside. Her joyous mood shrank away, and she couldn't help grabbing the knob to rip it open. The unlocked door fell before her might.

She blinked; the rest of the bare room didn't matter, nor did the table of implements nearby. All Black Rock Shooter saw was the back of a thick chair, and beside it a woman in fatigues facing the door. The orchestra-tor of all this had her arm extended towards the chair, a Beretta in her grip. On her face was an expression she couldn't identify.

"I planned for this" Hex said quietly.

Black Rock Shooter stood in the door frame, the only movement she made was the increasingly faster rise and and fall of her chest. What narrowed down her entire world was the arm on the chair, the brown skin evident despite the leather restraints.

"I had everything ready. I was going to leave you for that bitch, reap the rewards, and make the world a better place" Hex shook her head slowly, her gun unwavering. "I didn't know this would happen. I had truly no idea."

When Hex looked Black Rock Shooter in the eye, the girl saw no fear. Hate, anger, betrayal, but no grace of terror. "She played me. The deal was too good, so of course I didn't realize it was a trap. All this time, I was just a pawn. I did exactly what she wanted me to do while thinking I was the one in charge."

When puzzlement crossed the girl's features, Hex snorted. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I can't kill you, can I?"

After thinking it over, Black Rock Shooter carefully shook her head. Hex snorted. "Then I'm going to die here, while the dragon lives. All I can do now." her eyes narrowed. "Is hurt you."

It was impossible for her to save him. She was several meters away, while Hex had her gun pointed at Jonah's head. A twitch of her finger would put an end to his life, forever. Black Rock Shooter saw what she had to do, but she wasn't capable of reaching her in time. In that moment, all she wanted was to save him. She had to stop Hex from shooting him, by grabbing her-

 _Boom_.

The bullet flew wild, burrowing itself into the wall. At the same time Hex screamed, her arm suddenly bent at a wrong angle. She didn't have time to do anything else, since the bare hand holding her forearm clamped down hard. The sickening crack of shattered bones was loud in spite of the gunshot, as her arm was crushed beyond repair. As the gun fell from limp fingers Hex's scream rose in pitch, even as her attacker let go. It finally stopped when a jab into her midsection sent her flying backwards, bouncing off the wall before hitting the ground.

Breathing heavily, Black Rock Shooter paused. She looked at the several meter gap between the door and where she was now, incapable of understanding how she did it. Setting her mouth in a hard line, the girl decided she didn't care how it happened. She turned around, briefly stomping on the gun first. The lump of metal crumpled under her boot.

At last her hand began to shake, grabbing the restraints and tearing them away. With bated breath he watched her, red eyes wide as he saw her free him. Once she tore away the leg straps, Black Rock Shooter brought herself up to hover over the chair. Her arms were held at chest level, silently offering to help while he leaned away from the seat at last. Taking shallow breaths, he raised his head to look at her.

Then Jonah smiled. "You're here."

The faint worry in her mind vanished. Black Rock Shooter threw her arms around Jonah, unable to stop the ragged gasp. Tears stung at her vision, the girl starting to bury her head into his neck. But a gasp of pain caused her to withdraw, fear written all over her. Jonah coughed hard while he winced.

"Too hard" he groaned, mustering a smile anyway when he saw her crestfallen expression.

Backing away, she held a hand for him to grab, helping Jonah back to his unsteady feet. The teen groaned while he worked stiff muscles, moving for the first time in hours. When he looked over her new appearance, he shook his head in wry amusement. He didn't say anything, since he didn't need to. Instead Jonah smiled, quickly enveloping her in a hug of his own.

Though nervous about hurting him, Black Rock Shooter hesitantly raised her arms to wrap around him, wanting to hold him tightly but knowing she couldn't. When she let her face fall into his neck, some tears leaked from her eyes. Inhaling deeply, the girl simply basked in his presence, knowing beyond a shred of doubt he was _here_. The girl exhaled, happy for the first time in a long time.

Jonah backed his head away from her, stopping to give Black Rock Shooter a surprised look. But before he could say anything, a sputtered gasp caught both their attentions. Hex had pushed herself off the floor, clutching her crippled arm while she put her back on the wall. Despite her twitching features, she glared at the two as they parted.

"Fuck both of you" she all but hissed at them. Black Rock Shooter returned the glare in full, turning to the woman with clenched fists. A hand on her shoulder stopped the girl in her tracks, its owner shaking his head.

"Don't. She's not worth it." As Hex sputtered a curse, the girl tilted her head to the side.

"Look at her" Jonah nodded in Hex's direction. "What's the point?" Black Rock Shooter gave him an annoyed frown. He tugged on her shoulder, unable to make her budge.

"Its the worst thing you can do to her" he offered instead. She didn't agree, but when she spared a look at the injured woman, she thought his idea over. It did make a sort of twisted sense.

"Not a bad idea kid" Hex rasped, leaving her crushed arm alone to dig into her pocket. The girl was prepared to finish the woman off if she pulled out a gun, but when she held up a small remote like device, she was left confused. Hex adopted a vicious smirk. "This whole buildings wired with C4. Supposed to cover our tracks when we were done here, but this works too. Lets see you bullshit your way out of this one" Hex gloated, clicking the detonator.

The floor rumbled, not unlike an earthquake. Jonah nearly fell, saved only by Black Rock Shooter grabbing him. Beneath their feet the shaking was increasing exponentially, the walls fracturing. Wrapping him in her arms, the girl thought only one thing: escape.

Hex's smirk died, fading into a puzzled frown as her retinas burnt out. The brilliant white light filled the shaking room, blinding in its intensity. Suddenly the light vanished, as the ceiling above them seemed to explode. Debris pelted off the blind woman, who could only stay where she was. When the floor gave out and buried her underneath several tons of broken concrete, Hex uttered the last four words of her life.

"That's just not fair."

The building was collapsing, the ever expanding cloud of dust and debris threatening to envelop the small civilian helicopter as it frantically tried to get away. From the rooftop there was a seemingly tiny blast, allowing a glowing sphere to race out. The light raced skyward, escaping the death throes of a madwoman's plan.

It slowed once it hit the clouds, resting for a moment before it chose a direction. Then the light surged ahead, rushing by at incredible speed towards a destination only it knew. Countless citizens saw the zooming light as it passed overhead, those who believed in God recognizing what it was. Two F-15Js and one F-18 saw the speeding light in the sky, but their instruments could not track it.

The light cared not for them. It knew where it had to go, and getting entangled in their affairs was a waste of time.

On one roof, a party of nine finally arrived. The entrance door was kicked open, Lehm on point as he quickly surveyed the abandoned area. Motioning for the others, Wiley followed him in. Next was Valmet, her hands on Koko as she moved the smaller woman along. Tojo, Lutz, and Mao were after the pair, each man with a gun out as they checked their surrounding. Ugo and R were the last, watching the area behind the team warily.

"Okay, now we need to call for a ride" Lehm called out, searching over the group as they too kept scanning.

"How? We got two armies coming in!" Lutz pointed out, hearing the distinctive sound of faraway rotors growing louder.

"I dunno, Koko would you be kind enough to pull a miracle out of your sleeve?" R asked wryly, even as Valmet and Wiley gave him annoyed looks.

Mao was the first to see it; he was busy spotting an increasing number of aircraft when he saw the glowing light in the sky. Once he realized it was coming at them, he yelled, "Guys!"

Almost in unison the eclectic group turned to the direction he was pointing at, nearly all of them widening their eyes. Without a word Valmet pushed a struggling Koko behind her, the pale woman staring amazed at the incoming object. She braced herself when the object veered off from its course, unmistakably coming right at them. The light was barreling at the group at high speed, looking like it was going to crash into their position. Only Lehm didn't suck in a breath out of instinctive panic.

When it was a few meters away the light suddenly paused, coming to an instant stop. It was too bright for any of them to look at directly at first, even as it began to dim. Once it was no longer blinding, the men and women risked peeks, in the process discovering the human sized sphere of glowing light had drifted closer. As the nearest, Wiley and Mao took a couple measured steps backwards.

Once it was firmly over the roof, the light's identity was revealed to them. The edges of the sphere broke away, unfolding from a tucked position into two arching limbs. Dimming more, details could be picked out from the arches; the surface wasn't flat, but a shimmer of rippling patterns. The top seemed to be relatively flat, although the bottom was more uneven. When the pair was extended wide, the humans finally realized what the objects resembled: unmistakably _wings_. Vibrant feathered wings that had a span of eight meters wide from tip to to tip, flaring outwards before curling to a rest.

In the center of the glowing wings, a pair of boots tapped on the roof. As her weight settled to the ground, she gently let go of Jonah, who slid from her grasp to land unceremoniously beside her. While he stumbled for a moment, the girl finally planted her feet on the ground, bending her knees as if she were uncertain about landing. A gust of wind blew, rippling her cape-like jacket backwards while her wings stood defiant before them. A lone hand of hers stayed on the teen, whether it was to steady him or her couldn't be said.

Lifting her stunned expression to her equally awed comrades, Black Rock Shooter took a deep breath.

"I saved him."

 **Black Rock Shooter theme: The Cab - Angel With a Shotgun.**

xXx

 **A/N: You hear that? The weird ripping noise coming from your screen? Its the sound of my goofy self breaking my own rules. It's either that or a really lazy Deus Ex Machina. Your call on which it is and which one is worse.**

xXx

" _This! Is! Bullshit!_ "

The barely restrained scream caused both Jonah and Rock to flinch, while seven heads turned to a panting Tojo. Expressions consisting mainly of annoyance fell on the bespectacled man, while he stabbed a finger at the winged girl.

"Um, Tojo? Happy moment?" Lutz warned carefully, though he backed away to avoid being associated with him.

"You're being a buzzkill" Ugo told him, likewise putting distance between him. He saw the narrowed gaze of Valmet and paled.

But the Japanese man was unbowed. "No! I am not taking it this time!" he snapped his head to the girl, who raised her eyebrow at him. "Strength limit to body index don't even pretend to match up, fine, whatever. Spawn weapons out of thin air? No one else cares. Turn into some batshit crazy killing machine that's apparently bulletproof? I'm the only one wondering how the hell it works. But this" he paused to breath, seething in rage.

"Um, Tojo?" R warned, wincing as he left a path open.

"You show up out of the blue, having apparently flown here like fucking superman, and now all of a sudden you can talk" Tojo dug his fingers through his hair, his face turning purple. "How long have you been able to do this?" he snarled.

Nervous throughout his rant, Rock coughed into her fist. "Um, since five minutes ago."

"Really" he said dryly, unaware of the woman standing behind him.

"This is new to me too" she offered weakly, shrugging defensively.

Just as Tojo opened his mouth again, a firm clap came from behind him. Turning around, he met Koko's annoyed expression as she stared dangerously.

"Tojo. Shut up" she ordered simply.

Steadying himself, Tojo was all but pleading when he spoke next. "I can think of a dozen situations where this would have been useful, you're just gonna-"

"Shut. Up. You're ruining it."

The bespectacled man clamped his hands over his face, a quiet hiss of a muffled scream leaving him. Nodding in satisfaction, Koko brushed by him to approach the teens. Her expression softened, sparing a wry smile at the pair.

"So, this is new" she said cordially, making Rock glance away with an embarrassed smile. Turning to Jonah, she huffed. "You should avoid getting hurt in the future, every time you do your girlfriend gets leveled up."

Both teens snapped their heads to her, blushing furiously while they seemed to shrink back. Someone behind her giggled, which a sharp jab put a stop to.

"C'mon, it was so obvious" Koko rolled her eyes, crossing her arms while she settled on the winged girl. "In all seriousness, think you can dial that down? Its a little obvious."

Rock frowned in thought, looking at one of the wings. The glowing protrusion obediently curled inwards, making a rustling sound. As she seemed to concentrate, the wing grew translucent; when she started blinking again, it was gone. Just in case Koko gestured for her to turn, nodding satisfactorily when she saw no trace on her back. She whistled admiringly.

"Neat party trick. Just to be sure, you remember everything now?" Koko checked, noting how Jonah was looking at the girl.

Rock nodded, suddenly frowning. She inhaled, apparently wrapping her head around the new options. "Yeah. Brussels, Dubai, Dead Master" she suddenly scowled, clenching her fist as the air itself seeming to vibrate. Koko stifled a giggle, bemused when Jonah quickly approached her with his arms up. The way the two looked at each other, it was a wonder how she ever thought it wouldn't work out.

But alas, all things came to an end. The optimistic mood died when Lehm loudly coughed, causing the trio to turn towards him.

"This is great, we should have a party. But first, how about we get the hell out of here?" he suggested with a jabbed thumb at the exit. "Our luck with avoiding the army here isn't going to last-" The aged operator didn't get the chance to finish his sentence.

Growing louder by the second, the distinctive _whump-whump_ of beating rotors got the attentions of all eleven members of the group. The cold wind picked up into a gale force roar, heralding the arrival of the pile of weapons masquerading as a helicopter. Grabbing her coat, Koko struggled to stay on her feet as the AH-64 'Apache' gunship rose up to hover over the squad of arms dealers.

Only Rock didn't have a problem staying on her feet, as the chin mounted machine gun of the Japanese marked Apache swiveled towards her. All the blood remaining in Koko's expression drained away; she knew the gunship most likely wouldn't kill the girl, but the rest of them were fair game. Rock risked a glance at her, to which the pale woman nodded. Nodding forcefully back, she held her arms wide in preparation.

Koko only just caught a faint whoosh ghost over the Apache. Immediately thereafter the gunship went up in a colossal fireball, the concussive boom deafening. The blast wave carelessly brushed Koko off her feet, along with everyone else. By a strange coincidence Jonah managed to land on her, driving out what little air was in her lungs. Rock held her hands in front of her, she alone weathering the explosion on her feet. As she lowered them, the girl looked at her hand, dumbfound.

Groaning loudly, Koko shoved Jonah off her to check on her men. Her men were all fine (albeit cursing and groaning), as was she when she patted her body over. The fact had her confused: the explosion should have killed them all in a heartbeat, the burning shrapnel turning their bodies into perforated mush. Why didn't it?

The answer landed on the roof much like Rock did, slowing down at the last second to gracefully touch the ground. While the black smoke behind her roiled, she turned to face the tensing Black Rock Shooter with her silver toned scythe in hand. On her back multicolored lights sprouted, swiftly creating a black and silver construct which rankled loudly. The construct was a set of curved silver, the ribbed metal forming an array of even spikes.

They were wings, mechanical devices as if to match the feathery wings Rock bloomed out in an instant. As the black haired girl snarled, White Rock Shooter coolly regarded her opponent.

" _You._ "

Her voice was devoid of emotion, but the hostility radiating off her was almost thick enough to touch.

"You are an abomination, the scion of a forgotten god. Before you were merely an annoying pest. But now" White Rock Shooter raised the scythe to grab it by both hands. "You will die here, before this world pays the price."

Jonah was already struggling to get up, ready to attack no matter the odds. He was almost on his feet when Koko cried out in pain, grabbing her arm.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Merry Christmas everybody!**

xXx

Waves crashed against the rocky cliff, a cascade of water which sent up a salty spray with every impact. The never ending bashing of water was rhythmic, without pause nor respite. In the shade of the rugged mountains, what could have been a sign of impending danger came off as a soothing melody of nature. Being situated a fair distance away from the spray of tepid seawater helped, as the woman sitting in a cheap lawn chair chose to do.

Clad in flowing tan robes, the dusky skinned woman had her hands behind her head, softly relaxing with her eyes closed. She was beautiful in a sense, her shoulder length black hair spilling around her head like a halo, all while a faint smile was etched into her features. The woman gave every impression of being at peace, simply enjoying the sunlight of a fading autumn.

An unseen cue opened her eyes, a quiet groan escaping her while she sat up. After stifling a yawn, the woman creaked her head around, at first seeing nothing on the deserted beach. But a glance upwards showed the cause of the signal: a marble sized black sphere, blissfully hovering a few meters above the ground. It was a miniature hole in reality, its purpose was to circumvent the hassle of physically traveling through the universe.

The woman smiled. Once she rose from her chair, she took a second to stretch sore muscles, stiff from being still for so long. When the woman was satisfied, she began strolling towards the emerging portal.

On its own accord, or to be more accurate the according to the will behind the tear, the portal bloomed. In a couple seconds it expanded into a greasy orb several meters in diameter, then began to flatten. It became a window rather than a doorway, the shape only permitting one way travel. The woman stopped at the edge of the portal's radius, planting a fist on her hip.

One second became two. Then three.

At the count of four a body fell through the portal, yelping until he smacked against the ground. The victim was a spiky haired blond man in thick clothes, groaning while he rolled onto his back. His momentary peace came to a halt when a similarly dressed man fell through next, landing on the first's stomach. His cry of pain was abruptly cut off, flopping weakly when the Chinese featured man slid off him, both men coughing hard.

Next was a woman wearing an eye patch, who landed on her feet before stumbling over from imbalance. After her came three men in rapid succession; an Italian who landed on his feet, until a bulky dark skinned man slammed into his back to bowl the two of them onto the ground, followed by an older man who landed on his back without fanfare. Less than a second later a bespectacled Japanese man fell through, crying out while he helplessly flailed through the air. Once he hit the dirt, a thick man plummeted out to land on his rear, letting out a quiet groan of pain while he listlessly fell to his side.

The last three came together. A pale skinned woman latched onto a dusky toned teenager, with a black clad girl clutching the teen's arm for dear life; all left the portal in unison, and slammed into the dirt at the same time. The girl recovered in a heartbeat, almost hyperventilating while she crawled on her hands and knees to the moaning boy, ignoring everything else. Out of the entire party, she alone appeared unharmed from the rough teleportation.

A frantic shake of his shoulder caused a ragged cough from him, briefly making her shrink back with fear written over her expression. But after he plaintively raised an arm towards her, she froze in uncertainty. As the pale woman hacked from inhaling dirt, she pushed herself off the ground, making it onto her knees with what seemed to be a herculean effort. Blearily she swept her head around, her recovering senses picking apart details of where they were.

Finally her cerulean gaze landed on the robed woman watching over them, arms crossed while she observed the assorted mercenaries recovering from their ordeal. A strange thought made the pale woman look up, noticing the portal's greasy surface beginning to ripple. With a sharp crack the flat black circle shuddered, and vanished into wisps of dark smoke. In spite of everything else, Koko sucked in a breath at the low level pain in her arm.

From where he landed Lehm groaned, sitting up while he grabbed his head. "Ah damn, what'd I drink last night? Ugh..."

Shaking away the headache, it dawned on him there was a person standing a few meters away. His hand fell, automatically going for his shoulder rig. In response to the potentially hostile act, the woman playfully waved at him. As the closest to the stranger (albeit unwittingly), it came down to him to greet the smiling woman. Lacking any solid knowledge of who she was or why she was here, he defaulted to the basics.

"Hi."

"Hello to you too" she replied friendlily enough, pointing a finger at him. "Lehm Brick, right?"

"That's me. You have me at a disadvantage miss..." he trailed off, unwilling to take his eyes off her. By the sound of it the others were becoming aware of the woman too, the closest carefully drawing their SIGs.

"I go by Anansi. Pleasure to meet you" she answered, giving a polite curtsy.

"Likewise" he replied neutrally, frowning for a moment. "I'm gonna assume you're not here by accident."

"That's right. Give it a minute, and you'll see" the woman said, just as a worried look came over her. "I'm not a threat to you if that's what you're thinking" she waved her arms placatingly.

Rock helped Jonah to his feet, her new strength allowing her to drag him upwards without effort. The teen was still weak from the event, but he was recovering at a fast rate. After giving her a warm smile, Jonah turned to Koko, lowering himself to help her up. Rock hovered behind him, her arms raised for whenever either of them needed her.

Koko was sputtering for breath, groaning while Jonah propped her up. Once the bottom of her feet felt like they were on solid ground, another pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her body. Creaking her head, the pale woman cracked a smile for Valmet, making her blush furiously.

One by one the assembled group were rising from the ground, some easier than others. Mao and R were up with only a little wincing, whereas Lutz needed to be dragged to his feet by a grimacing Wiley. Despite the collective pain they were in, all began to focus on the robed woman standing nearby, who was obviously keeping track of them. Anansi didn't appear to care, crossing her arms behind her back to stretch.

Their collective suspicion was put on hold when Koko suddenly cried out, clutching her arm in agony once again. Valmet was there to support her, taking a second to draw her gun after wrapping a limb around her body. Rock and Jonah were alert in an instant, sweeping their gazes around for the incoming portal. After matching eyes, Valmet reluctantly tossed Jonah her SIG so he had a weapon, leaving her able to shield the little lady better.

A concussive impact a few meters away made the eleven strong group snap their attentions over, each of them whirling around to train their sidearms on the arrival. Rock was the closest to the settling cloud of dirt surrounding the dark skinned girl, certainly not by accident. Around her, Lehm, Wiley, Mao, and Tojo edged to one side, while Ugo, Lutz, and R went to the other, while Valmet put herself behind the men with Koko in her arms. All of them had a clear line of sight on her, each drawing a SIG to aim at the arrival.

A powerful gust of wind blew the dirt away, clearing the air. It allowed White Rock Shooter to stride out from her landing spot, a shimmering scythe held away from her body while the ribbed metal wings bobbed on her back. As they could see now, the constructs weren't attached to her, rather were suspended a few centimeters from her jacket covered back. Nothing physically connected them to her, but they still moved as if they were bolted in place.

Rock wore a hard expression as she held a hand to her side, the flash of lights forming her black sword. An eye blink after it formed blue fire raced down from the hilt, encompassing the blade in roiling flame. R and Ugo swore, while she resolutely kept her gaze ahead this time.

Uncaring of the burning sword, White Rock Shooter stopped three meters away, her cold expression locked onto her counterpart. "You."

Glowing lights sprouted from Rock's back, unfurling out to form the awe inspiring sight of the ethereal wings. Flaring out to their full width, the girl took a second to marvel at the change before she pulled them in with a thought. Obediently the twin wings, thick and broad with its faintly rustling feathers, curled in so the tips were pointed at the enemy, forming a half cocoon of light.

"Before you were merely a pest, a minor threat to be weeded out. But no more" White Rock Shooter brought her scythe around, gripping the weapon in both hands. "You don't know what you are. I'm going to make sure you never found out."

As much as Rock concentrated on her foe, she wasn't oblivious to her surroundings, including a pair of feet coming to a stop beside her. When she hesitantly peeked, her breath caught in her throat.

Jonah briefly met her look, smiling softly. "I'm with you this time."

Her fearful expression was matched by his confident smile, the teen turning his head as he raised the SIG. White Rock Shooter scoffed, curling her lip. "It makes no difference. This abomination has existed long enough, I will allow it no-"

Koko screamed, in spite of Valmet tightly holding her thrashing body. Rock, Jonah, and White glanced to her in near unison, the former two looking helplessly anxious, the latter annoyed. The pale woman threw her head back, features twisted into a wretched snarl while she gripped her quivering arm.

"Goddamnit this is getting old!" she shrieked, even as Valmet insistently dragged her further away from the immediate conflagration.

When the impromptu trio turned back, the hard looks resumed; Rock clutched her flaming sword in both hands, while Jonah kept the SIG trained on the girl's face. White twirled her scythe around, gripping the weapon so the curved blade was in their direction. The tension in the air was almost palpable. No one dared speak, the only noises being the wind and the bashing of the waves.

Until Anansi, rooted in the same place the entire time, covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

When a lone being landed soundlessly in a crouch between the two opponents, initially neither side reacted. For Jonah, he had to spend precious seconds to identify who the arrival was as she rose. Once he did however, a twitch of his arm moved the SIG from White to the seemingly harmless girl.

White Rock Shooter paused, her grimace broken as her eyes widened. "Ram?"

Softly smiling, the horned girl stood with her arms clasped behind her back, facing away from both sides. A flop of her head had her looking at Rock, her magenta eyes roaming appreciably over her altered form, giving her glowing wings especially a long stare. Rock bristled under the attention, which made Ram giggle before switching to Jonah. His glare earned a smirk before she turned to the other side.

"What are you doing here?" White demanded, a fresh scowl coming over her.

Ram let out a breathy chuckle, raising a single leg into the air like a long paced march. Twisting her remaining ankle, she twirled ninety degrees to plant her foot on the sand. The simple motion had her facing White instead of Rock. "Stopping you."

"Stopping me?" White repeated numbly, before her eyes narrowed. "No. I have tolerated your games long enough. You will either help me destroy this monster, or I will end your life."

"White, White, White..." Ram ever so slightly shook her head, her tone utterly patronizing. "Do you ever lighten up? Keep this up and you'll hurt my pawns."

Jonah and Rock froze, the girl's wings jerking back. They exchanged stunned looks, turning to see White's raw shock.

"Your..." her breathless shock quickly gave way to burning anger, her expression morphing into unbridled rage. She stomped a foot on the ground, the air itself quivering. More than a few curses came from the onlookers, still watching the display from an altogether unsafe distance. "You've gone rogue."

"Have I?" Ram asked back, constantly smiling as she cracked her knuckles.

White gripped her scythe, glaring at her counterpart. "You have violated our laws. I have no mercy to give you-"

She unexpectedly paused, blinking away something. Twitching angrily, White ground her teeth together while she tilted her head back, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment.

When she opened them, all of her anger melted away, her jaw dropping as quick pants of breath escaped the girl. Her limp fingers let the silver tinted scythe fall from her hand, the weapon unceremoniously falling over to disintegrate into dust. When she spoke next, her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.

"Official Sanction..."

Ram sighed dramatically, smiling regretfully while she shook her head. "You just don't know when to quit. I can admire your determination, but right now, its in my way."

"How... how did you get an official sanction!?" White demanded, jerking her body like she was stopping herself from lunging.

"Because our superiors gave it to me, obviously" Ram mocked, rolling her eyes. "You could've avoided all this if you had just given it a rest. But no, you had to keep going. For your precious duty" she sighed. "It's your fault for getting in the way of my operation."

"You..." White gulped, squeezing her eyes shut before clenching her fists. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"Its on a need to know basis. Until now, you didn't need to know" Ram answered easily, shrugging without concern.

"What're you talking about?" Jonah demanded, scowling as he aimed at the horned girl.

Heedless of White's fuming, Ram daintily twirled around to face him. Rock switched her gaze between him and the girl, her fast breathing at odds with her confusion. Her sword seemed to match her mental state, the azure flames flickering randomly. Uncaring, Ram first turned to her. "You can put that away, you won't need it."

The flames stabilized as Rock hardened her gaze, causing Ram to snort bemusedly. "Suit yourself. But ask yourself, why don't you trust me?"

"Don't change the subject" Jonah interrupted, his aim unwavering.

Ram raised a single finger towards him. "Not yet. That wasn't a rhetorical question, I want an answer from you" she said, making Rock frown in confusion. "You have a working voice now, use it."

Rock raised a hand to her throat, uncertainty on her face. Inhaling, she swallowed a lump. "I... I don't, I can't trust you. Hex said you played her. You told her what to do, didn't you?" she said carefully, unused to the sound of her own voice.

"She told me she had a special friend. That was you" Jonah accused, his brow creased.

Ram chuckled darkly, briefly turning her gaze down. When she lifted again, the teenagers immediately tensed. She still had her easygoing smile, but it no longer reached her eyes. Her magenta orbs shown with a different look entirely, one of calculating determination. The tiny change seemed to add years to her form, the mask of immaturity falling away.

"That's right" she said softly, the smile baring her teeth.

"You planned all of this. Hex, White, everything, you didn't just block her memories, you brought her back in the first place. Or..." Jonah narrowed his gaze. "Even before."

Still smiling, Ram took several measured steps towards him, each footfall slow and deliberate so to not provoke any of them. Rock was almost snarling, but she didn't appear to care at all. Stopping an arms length away, she raised a hand with a single finger extended to gently land on the SIG's sights, the barrel only a few centimeters from her face. Jonah was breathing heavily as he stared, but he reluctantly allowed her to push the gun down.

"Why you?" Ram asked, wearing her unhinged smile.

Confusion ghosted over his features, making her calculating eyes gleam in the sunlight. "What?"

"Why you?" she repeated, wagging a finger at him. "You must have asked yourself that question a thousand times now. With every bout of misfortune that comes your way, you've asked this. Most times you were addressing God. Since you did so well, I'll be nice, and tell you He wasn't listening. _I was_."

Jonah's anger was fading, his expression wrinkling. Rock looked lost, and several of the men exchanged confused looks.

"I chose you Jonathan Mar. Long ago I selected you for greater things, for a destiny you couldn't imagine. Everything you have done was either expected or accounted for. All" she turned to wave an arm towards Rock, who reflexively flinched. "For this" The glowing wings jerked back, the sudden movement getting more than a few twitches all around.

"It wasn't an easy decision though" Ram went on, crossing her hands behind her back while he locked eyes with him. "I had to chose carefully from my roster of candidates. There could only be one, and I had to pick that lucky fool out of a list of precisely twenty thousand, two hundred and seventeen options. Two hundred and eighteen, counting you."

Jonah stared at her wide eyed, the sheer shock preventing him from coming up with a reply.

"On that list were boys, at the time between the age of eight to twelve, scattered all over this world. Each one possesses a specific blend of attributes necessary for my plan. You weren't my top pick, but you made the top ten. Of course." her expression darkened. "I had to cross your name out when your village was bombed. A real shame, courtesy of those short sighted fools. Good thing I had spares."

Shoving aside the increasingly furious Lutz and Ugo, Koko stomped into sight, wearing a glare.

"My next option was a boy named Christopher Wright, from Ontario. He was like you, only well to do, and in a solid mental state. Rock would have fallen for him within a month, never knowing you even existed" Ram giggled at the pigtailed girl recoiling in shock. Sighing wistfully, the horned girl tilted her head back, still matching his gaze. "A month before the operation began, Chris got into a car accident outside Toronto International airport. Although he survived, his injuries rendered him useless for my plans. Imagine my surprise when I checked over the list again, and found out you were still breathing. Lucky you."

"You-" demanded both women, briefly glancing to each other before refocusing on the girl. Meanwhile Jonah was breathing heavily, his eyes unfocused as he swayed in place.

"As for you" Ram turned to face Rock, crossing her arms behind her back as White glared sullenly at her. "The list for your side was much smaller. Once I was done filtering, there was a dazzling one hundred and eight, counting you."

"What do you want with me?" the black haired girl questioned darkly, curling her lip while her knuckles were nearly white.

"This of course" Ram answered with a wave, sparking plenty of confusion. "For the record, if I had waited two more days to start the operation, another Enforcer who goes by Silver Cypher would've scanned your area. Nice guy, he likes my jokes. You would've been scanned, ID'd, and tagged, then in a month or less a kill team would've ended your life. So you're still breathing because of me. Congratulations" she finished, flashing a smile that made the girl bristle.

"Why?" Koko demanded, features flickering as she struggled to keep herself from losing control. "You keep going on and on about what you've done, but you haven't said anything about why? Why you screwed with our lives, why you went through all this effort? And if you" she interrupted the girl when she opened her mouth again. "Say 'this' one more time, I'll throttle the life out of you myself."

Ram was silent for a moment, her gaze fixated on the pale woman. Without warning she laughed, clamping a hand over her mouth. Rather than frightening the men, several lowered their weapons, looking at her with disgust. On the edge Ugo glanced to Ananasi, who mouthed 'wait for it.'

"Aha, ha. Of course" Ram said, smirking when she lazily flopped her head towards White Rock Shooter. "You wanna fill em in? This is your pet peeve after all."

White Rock Shooter looked to be having trouble reining in her scowl, her eyebrows twitching while her firsts were clenched. "You dare?"

"I do" Ram shrugged off.

The girl jerked her head, baring her teeth in a full glare. "You are a fool, playing with powers you think you can control."

"I don't need to control anything. I just needed to direct the motions. Set the situation up to reach the outcome I desire, which I did excellently here. Stacking the deck is my favorite metaphor" Ram replied, her smile dropping a notch. "Now, if you'd be so kind."

"Yeah, someone explain this" Lutz chose to speak up, crossing his arms. "I dunno about the rest of you, but I was a little annoyed at Rock turning into an angel out of the blue."

"Angel huh? I like the name. Doesn't sound like it fits well, but I like it" Mao said, dropping his gun regardless of Valmet giving him a look.

"I dunno, the bible has some dark stuff. I'd say this fits" Wiley agreed, keeping his weapon aimed at the inhuman girls. Ugo and R nodding with him, though Tojo chose to screw his eyes shut with a sigh.

White scoffed before turning her head to the others, her red gaze falling on Rock. "Before, you were Sealed Potential. No different from the rest of those feral degenerates. Your so called Insane form was a glimpse of the power within you, but warped and shattered. Unbound Potential, possessing neither direction nor purpose. A slave to your pitiful emotions."

"And now?" Rock questioned lowly, matching her stare.

"You are Awakened Potential, the final state one like you can achieve. The rarest, and most dangerous, of you and your bastard ilk" White spat, uncaring of the twitches from the others.

"Is this why you went after her, to stop this from happening?" Koko questioned, unable to entirely hide her intrigue.

"Yes. I and my counterparts have spent centuries purging the few lingering traces of her bloodline left in that ruined world" she answered, flicking her eyes over. "You are the first to achieve this apotheosis in a thousand years. We've made sure of it."

Rock needed a breath before she could speak again, finally dismissing her burning sword in a brief flash of light. "Why? Why is it so important for you to do this?"

"That is not your concern" White answered coldly.

Tojo approached the gathering carefully, his frustrated madness giving way to curiosity. "I think it is. Ram went through all this trouble to make Rock turn into this, there has to be a good reason."

"It is _not_ your concern. Do not delve into matters beyond your reckoning, lest you draw their attention" White responded coldly.

Ram giggled. "You're being paranoid. She's talking about Black Sta-"

The air itself shuddered, masses of dirt briefly flinging into the air in the horned girl's direction. Now silenced, White creaked her head to the same direction her greave was pointed.

" _Do not_ finish that sentence Ram. You have drawn enough of my ire" she warned, eyes narrowed.

Ram kept an empty smile on her for a moment, her eyes locked onto her counterpart. Whatever it was passed, and she sighed wistfully.

"Alright, its not very important anyway. Not like exploiting their circumstances" she said, rolling her shoulders.

"So, are you gonna keep gloating, or are you going to finish up?" Koko questioned darkly, without a hint of a smile.

"A bit more gloating first" Ram said, crossing her arms. "I didn't plan for you to become his patron, but I can't deny how effective it was. One of many humans with the resources to effectively manage the girl, but one of few who would put her to use in the way you did. I'm actually a little surprised you ended up treating her as one of your own, with so few reservations."

Koko nodded, brow wrinkled. "And what about the others? The Otherworlders, you're the one who's been making them appear, aren't you?"

"That's right" Ram smirked, heedless of the sour looks she received. "You're a smart woman Koko, surely you must've thought it was odd that of the first three Witches" she used the name with no trace of irony. "To appear on this world just so happened to be familiar to Black Rock Shooter?"

Wiley finally lowered his weapon, his expression grim. "So you're behind them all. Strength, Dead Master" Rock instinctively scowled for a moment, "Black Gold Saw, and all the rest that've been popping up over the past six months. All because of you."

"Bingo" Ram said, a pleased expression on her face in spite of the growing hostility she was receiving; Jonah to Lutz to White, all were glaring at her. "Tel me at least one of you thought it was strange the first three were familiar with Rock-chan here?" she playfully asked, jabbing a thumb towards the girl. The sullen looks she got as a response made her snicker.

"Those ones start killing the second they reached this place. How many people are dead because of you?" Lutz accused with a stabbed finger, gripping his SIG tightly.

"How many will live because of me?" she asked back, temporarily silencing the mixed group. "The decline of this world was slowed thanks to my actions."

"You're delusional" White stated sourly, no longer appearing to care about the winged girl.

"Perhaps. But think about it" Ram tapped her forehead, "Otherworlders have attacked virtually every major power on this planet. They are a threat which ignores borders, ideology, and nationality. No matter the country, all can find common ground in being terrorized by those monsters. Until now."

She finished with an expectant note, emptily smiling. The awkward quiet over the area was broken only by the waves, and Anansi clearing her throat.

Ram dropped her smile. "I said, until-"

A sharp crack in the air caused nine guns and one sword to jerk upwards, all focused on the split second event. The attitude didn't fade when a pair of armored boots hit the sand.

Valmet gasped. "You!"

Rock couldn't help roaming her eyes over the girl beside Ram, the initial surprise morphing into concentrated rage. She looked so much like her, the outfit and armor unable to stop the uncanny resemblance.

"There you are. Traffic was that bad?" Ram asked dryly, making the Rock lookalike shrug while her expression was utterly blank.

"Okay, what the hell?" R questioned, frowning as he aimed. White was the only one to show any lingering surprise at the arrival.

Ram cleared her throat before throwing her arms out to the girl, smiling as she seemed to present her to them. "Everyone, may I present Black Rock Beast. Say hi Beast!"

"Hi Beast."

Jonah blinked, glancing to a similarly dumbfounded Rock. His confusion came not from her face, which hardly moved in sync with the words, but her voice. The tone the two words were spoken in were unmistakably masculine.

Beast pitched forward, doubling over while her skin and clothes seemed to dissolve into black smoke. As the stunned onlookers watched, her body seemed to writhe and elongate, the proportions shifting as her skin seemed to flow like water. When she stood up straight again, the shifting mass visibly grew, reaching up and up until she was more than a head taller her original height, at an easy two meters.

Then the things skin coalesced, shaping into new details. Starting at the feet, the armor reformed into black boots, then leggings. A long coat spilled down once the reforming mass reached the waist, this one much like Rock's current garb save for the lack of color. The hands transformed from claws to thick leather gloves, although they retained their large size. Finally the head took shape, forming an attractive male face. A red colored cloth wrapped his dark brown dreadlocked hair back into a rough ponytail.

The former girl kept his eyes closed for a second, softly exhaling while he stretched his lanky arms. When he opened them, he revealed brilliant blue eyes with a distinctive gear pattern in his irises.

"Hi" he greeted in a meticulous yet friendly enough tone.

Lehm patted his pockets for a smoke, fortunately finding one to light. A long drag went unnoticed by the silenced group, as he partook in the one thing keeping his sanity intact. "Figures."

The transformed man turned to Rock and Jonah, offering an apologetic look as he curtsied with an arm over his chest. "First off, please accept my apology to the two of you for my conduct earlier. I tried to minimize the damage, but since I was undercover in Hex's circle, I had to cause some injury to you both. All the same, congratulations."

"Um, sure" Jonah said once he relocated his voice, Rock nodding in numb agreement.

"Okay, first, what the fuck. Second, who the hell are you?" Lutz asked incredulously, jerking an arm towards the man.

He took the unease in stride, turning to them and cracking his neck. "Pardon my late arrival. I meant to get here sooner, but I received a... worrying message. As you can probably guess, I'm an old ally of Ram. She and I go back a ways, thanks to a mutual friend" his unblinking gaze fell for a moment. "Said friend is no longer with us."

"Okay, I guessed that part. So who are you?" Koko questioned, while Valmet kept up the hostility through the cloud of confusion.

"Names probably something like 'Crawling Chaos' or "Shifting Form Blade' or something" Mao guessed, crossing his arms.

"Ron."

Lehm burnt his first smoke to the filter and had drawn another, pausing as he gave the man a strange look. "Ron? That's it?"

He shrugged. "Its the closest you can get to pronouncing my name correctly. Obviously I'm not human, so the fine details are a little irrelevant. Now, could you wait for a second?"

Turning around, Ron placed his rarely blinking gaze upon a grinning Ram. "I have bad news."

"I'm not in the mood to care. Everything went so well today..." Ram was grinning as she bunched her arms up, almost hopping.

He tilted his head to the side for a moment, making her smile vanish. A light seemed to flash in front of her eyes as he righted himself, her cheer vanishing. "Oh. Oh no. Oh crap. _Oh shit._ "

Her eye twitching, Ram waved a hand in front of herself. Koko yelped in pain as a greasy black portal formed above the ground in front of her, which she leaped into without another word. The pale woman's hissing faded seconds after the portal disappeared, it and the horned girl vanishing like they never existed in the first place.

Anansi walked up to Ron's side, her face a mask of curiosity. "Bad news?"

"Subject Fifteen is in danger. Since Subject Nine was a bust, its this one or nothing" he explained, making her nod thoughtfully.

"Subjects?" White questioned, her voice filled with menace.

Ron turned to shake his head at her. "Classified. But since you're here" he tilted his head again, making the dark skinned girl defocus once again. "You've been reassigned."

White Rock Shooter paused, her mouth agape for a moment.

"I pulled some strings to get you a better posting. I'll be taking over your job on Earth for the foreseeable future. I must warn you however" his eyes narrowed. "Black Rock Shooter is off limits no matter where you are. This comes from the top."

"For what purpose would you need her? She'll turn on them like the rest, and you know it" White told him tersely, narrowing her eyes.

"That would be a problem if she was our only option. And if she didn't have the bonds Ram and I spent so long cultivating" Ron replied simply.

White stared at him for a moment, finally scoffing. "Very well. When the time comes, I will deal with her."

"Duly noted."

White rock shooter waved a hand in front of her, making Koko cry out in a blend of misery and anger while the black portal formed. Sending one last sullen glare towards Rock, she strolled to the greasy surface, the sphere dissolving into black wisps a moment later.

Ron nodded before turning back around, finding a mixture of surprise and suspicion meeting him. "While I'm sure you have plenty of questions, I'm afraid my time is limited."

"Why are you helping Ram?" Rock spoke, stopping her hand from massaging her throat. Jonah reached for her hand, giving her a comforting squeeze.

"As I said, we go back a ways. I should note that it was my idea to reunite you two, Ram was all for delivering you to another subject" he answered, turning when Koko cleared her throat.

"So what're you gonna do now?"

"I'm going to clean up White's mess for starters" he said, calm despite the odd looks he received. "After that, who knows. Keep it up long enough, an envoy from my superiors will pay a visit to your people. If you're lucky, your race will end up like mine."

"Speaking of ending up" Lehm said loudly, onto his third cigarette. He waved a hand at their surroundings. "Where the hell are we, and can you give us a ride home?"

"No need, I already paid for your plane tickets. Think of it as an apology gift" Ron answered, glancing at his clothed wrist.

"What, are we supposed to just fly home? Ask the tentacle aliens to just, I dunno, give us a lift?" Ugo demanded with a stabbed finger.

Ron frowned. "You're in Rimutaka park. Wellington city is maybe fifteen miles that way" he pointed to his side in an apparently random direction.

"New Zealand" Wiley said, the man's countenance fracturing along with everyone else. "Why are we in New Zealand?"

Anansi waved a hand to catch their attention. "That was my idea. Japan was a little too hot to have a chat, and I like this place."

"Yeah, while you're right there, who the hell are you?" Valmet questioned sternly, her brow creased.

"An old friend too. With once exception, I've only been an observer" a wave of the Finn's hand made her smile. "Koko, remember that night on the _George Washington_?" the pale woman nodded, a pained expression flashing over her. "I whispered in your ear when White popped the nuke in a marble so you got down. I figured you didn't want to be blinded."

"Thanks I suppose" the pale woman said sourly, although some confusion was on her face.

"On that, I have to make a confession" Ron spoke up, his glassy features wrinkled. "Ram wasn't going to admit it, but White wasn't supposed to show up when she did. I was on the ship then, prepared to leave an opening for you to escape with Jonah. But..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head and sighing. "The past eight months weren't supposed to happen as they did. I had to call in a favor to change her orders, so something was salvageable out of the mess."

"Huh" R grunted, frowning while he crossed his arms.

Ron glanced at his wrist again, frowning. "I'm almost out of time. Two items before I have to leave."

"Okay, I'm done here then, this was fun. Later" Ananasi said with a small wave, turning to stroll away.

For a second her body seemed to glow, before she dissolved into a powerful glowing light mid stride. Her feet no longer left prints on the sand, the many tendrils of light sprouting as the light sank into the ground to vanish from sight.

"Guys, that was weird" Lutz said, frowning with a raised brow. "But I'm not really shocked. I know I should be, but everything else going on today kinda dented me. Is that a bad thing?"

"Nah, I'm feeling the same" Ugo agreed with a weak nod.

"Same" Lehm said, drawing his fifth smoke. Wiley and Mao nodded, while R merely sighed. Tojo groaned and slapped his face.

"That's her party trick. Anyway" Ron stepped towards Koko, who backed away. When he held his hand out, she sent him a guarded look. "I promise, I'm not going to harm you."

"What're you going to do?" Koko questioned carefully.

"Fixing your arm" he answered.

She stared at him for a moment, but after everything making up today, common sense seemed to be in short supply. With a sigh he hesitantly held out her arm.

Reaching out, Ron wrapped his long fingers around her bicep, just above the cutoff point where she reached in so long ago. Focusing, he slid the encircling grip down her arm. Koko started grimacing, then she started panting, finally she was gasping for breath. Heedless of the guns being aimed at him, Ron persisted.

When he reached her wrist, he yanked his hand away like something was in his grip. As Koko staggered (until Valmet caught her) he held up the hand to open his fingers. A ball of black smoke was nestled in his grip, which a clenched fist vanquished. He nodded satisfactorily.

"Good news, the sub dermal tracking field Ram left on your arm is gone. I'm afraid there'll be a residual effect for the rest of your life, but it shouldn't hurt you anymore" he explained, shaking the hand like he was getting water off.

Sucking in a breath, Koko clutched her arm as she and Valmet snapped her head up. "Excuse me, tracking field!?"

"Its gone now, don't worry" he glanced at his wrist, his brow raising. "Crap, out of time. Have to go."

Ron turned to wave a hand, creating a fresh portal in front of him. He walked two steps before freezing, quickly twisting around. "Oh, almost forgot." He pointed towards Rock. "Congratulations, you're pregnant."

Ron stepped into the portal and vanished, leaving the eleven strong group standing in place. This time, the silence was accompanied by the humans turning their collective heads to the lone Otherworldler, who could only stare at the place the shapeshifter left. Rock's mouth moved on its own, her eyes wide while she sought out Jonah's limp hand.

"I-I... I'm pregnant?" she whispered, turning to the similarly stunned boy. Though he had his mouth agape like her, her squeezing grip was returned as much as he could manage.

Lehm dropped his smoke, a sudden thought making him elbow Tojo. "Well?" he prompted.

"Nope" the Japanese man muttered, slumping and turning to walk away. "No, no, _no_. I give up. Fuck this, I'm done."

Shock turned to fear when Koko stomped in front of the teens, her expression twisted by barely contained rage. Boy and girl shrank back as she stared daggers into the pair.

" _Jonah_ " her voice was icy cold, the teen unwittingly backing away in sheer terror. Rock's grip stopped him however, the girl's fear trapping the both of them in place. "If I wasn't so happy about you being safe and sound, I'd be flaying you alive right now for being this irresponsible."

"I'm sorry" he half whimpered, more terrified than at any other point in his life.

" _And you_ " she switched her murderous gaze to Rock, who flinched with a squeak. "I'm not in the mood to ask how this is even possible. But you're not walking away with a slap on the wrist either" Seething, Koko ran a hand down her face. "Should've known this wasn't going to be easy. You've been a bundle of trouble since you arrived."

Although she was still fuming, Koko cracked a smile. "Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, lets get back to England. We have to get ready for this mess."


	16. The End

**A/N: For the last time, I own nothing throughout this tale. Not. A. Thing.**

 **Now, let's do this.**

xXx

 _Langley, Virginia..._

"Good morning Chief Black."

The portly man with the reflective glasses nodded to his secretary when he strode into the outer room, pausing on his way to his personal office. It had been a pleasant enough start to a day; his wife was taking up Yoga, traffic was light, his daughter announced she was trying for the school play, and he could have sworn he heard a legible word from his son for the first time. Because of this, George Black found himself in a good mood today.

"Do I have any messages or visitors?" he asked, taking a second to straighten his tie.

"No Chief Black. I have to remind you of your appointment with the Director at eleven AM" the blonde secretary told him from behind her desk. She was quite pretty, but the thought of doing anything inappropriate with her never crossed his mind.

"I remembered, but thank you. If anyone stops by let me know" he said, going for his door.

"Yes Chief. How's Anthony doing?" she asked brightly.

"Teething trouble, but nothing earth shattering. How are things with Marcus?" he replied, his hand pausing on the knob for a moment.

"Great, but... I think he's planning on popping the question" the secretary hesitantly said, her voice wavering.

Chief Black twisted his head around; his thick face was under control, but his eyes shown with pleasant surprise. "Really? I know you've been seeing him for five months, but I thought the both of you wanted to take things slow."

"Well, I'm not sure if he's actually doing it or not" she looked away, smiling sheepishly. "But he's been making noise about me moving in with him, so it'd make sense"

Chief Black nodded thoughtfully. "You know, it's technically a misuse of my power, but I could..."

"Oh no! Nononono" she got out, waving her arm before she remembered who she was speaking to. Composing herself, she cleared her throat. "I appreciate the offer Chief, but I don't think its a good idea to waste official resources on little old me. I'm sure Marcus won't appreciate being investigated either."

"I understand. If he does though, let me know. Susan would love to help with the wedding" he said, finally pushing his door open.

"Thank you Chief Black, I appreciate it" she replied. George gave the former field agent a friendly smile as he entered his office, shutting the door behind him. Checking the latch, he nodded and turned around.

Then he paused.

The picture of his family was lying face up in the middle of his desk, where it was moved. To one side of the small frame fell a single metal claw, long and sharpened to a fine point. At the top corner the next digit fell, digging a tiny hole in the mahogany wood. Then there was another, and another. The thumb stayed above the desk, curling on its own. In comparison, the pair of red tinted metal legs were propped up on the corner of the desk, crossed over each other. Her free hand lazily waved in his direction, the sharp claws idly moving through the air.

Leaning back in his chair, the horned owner of both limbs stared at the door with a coy smile.

"Bookman, long time no see" greeted Black Gold Saw.

Most men would have reacted poorly to having an unwelcome intruder in their private office, doubly so if the interloper was an increasingly rare Witch. The mere thought of someone violating the personal sanctum of the most paranoid minds on the planet, perusing classified documents, scanning top secret data, and otherwise tearing apart the carefully built web of hidden information, it would send quite a few into a panic. Some would go so far as a blind rage, with all that it entailed.

George Black was not like most men. Instead of reacting poorly, he calmly and carefully nodded in acknowledgment. "Miss Gold Saw, pleasure to see you again. To what do I owe this visit?"

"A matter of prime importance Mister Black. It's something so important that I chose to end my working relationship with the Thai government, although I was unable to give the proper two weeks notice. Fortunately my savings should cover the expenses I incurred during my stay _stop right there_ " Gold Saw's hand froze in the air, her narrowed features halting the portly man from approaching the door any further. "I've always respected you Bookman. So I'd rather not kill you because you did something foolish."

"That's a little bit of a relief. I'll admit, for a moment was I was worried this was an assassination. Is it?" he asked, holding his hand in the air towards the knob.

"No. But understand, I want to keep my presence here on the down low. You calling for help isn't contributing to that" Gold Saw told him, sliding her legs off his desk to sit normally. Her clawed hands came to a rest on the table's surface, her sharp red gaze following his every move.

"I get it, I'm just locking my door for privacy. Since you got in here without anyone noticing, I'll assume escaping isn't a concern" Bookman said genially. After a moment of tense staring she nodded, and the bespectacled man clicked the lock.

Black Gold Saw's gaze slid back into a relaxed state, with a wave of her hand indicating Bookman to take a seat. Showing nothing, the portly chief sat down in a guest chair, tracking the young woman while she adjusted herself in his expensive seat.

"Like the chair?" he asked.

"Very much. My old office in Bangkok has nothing on this" she agreed, squirming for a moment before she was comfortable. Bookman was hardly moving, using every scrap of his intellect and experience to plot a course through this unexpected situation.

"So, may I ask what you're doing here?" he inquired after a long moment.

Black Gold Saw leaned back and smiled, crossing her hands over her lap. "Of course. To cut a long story short, I was visited by an intriguing stranger. After discussing matters over some tea, he offered me a chance to assist him."

"A stranger you say? Who might he be?" Bookman injected a degree of curiosity into his tone.

"That would be me."

Bookman swiveled his head around, masking his surprise well. Peripherally aware of Gold Saw smirking, he switched his attention to the individual walking up to the back of his chair, one he was certain wasn't there a moment ago. Besides the girl and himself, the office was empty when he stepped in. That observation was proven false by the young man brushing past his chair, turning around to lean against his desk with his arms crossed.

His lanky form and nearly total clothing gave way to a handsome face, smiling friendlily at the CIA chief. Taking a second to observe his thick gloves and tied back dreadlocks, Bookman rose with a muffled grunt in order to stick a hand out.

"Pleasure to meet you" he greeted, noting his sharp blue eyes and the patterns in his irises.

The young man raised a brow before smiling, offering his gloved hand to shake. Two forceful swings later and he released, a quiet chuckle escaping him. "Pleasure to meet you as well Mister Black."

"Thank you" Bookman replied, mustering a small smile. "I'll assume you're the stranger Miss Gold Saw mentioned."

"That I am. Please, call me Ron" the lanky man said, gesturing to the chair.

Bookman politely shook his head. "Ron it is then. I can assume you're not here to kill me."

"Of course not. In fact, I'd like to make an offer to you. A similar one I made to Gold Saw here" he explained, tipping his head towards the smiling girl while she played with another picture frame. "I'd like for you to assist me in my task."

"Very direct. If I may be so bold however, can I assume that you are familiar with a being named White Rock Shooter?" Bookman asked, his tone neutral.

Ron nodded, leaning against the desk to cross his arms. "She and I are counterparts. I'm taking her place as guardian of this world, which is part of the reason for my being here."

"I see" Bookman said softly, his glasses seeming to glint as he tipped his head.

"Until recently, my superiors were content with leaving your world be. _Laissez faire_ , you can call it. But due to recent events, its been decided this state is no longer an effective policy. I'm here to... rectify matters" Ron spoke carefully, his smile dropping.

"Define rectify" Bookman said, likewise frowning. A glance at Gold Saw did nothing but make her quietly giggle.

"Put bluntly, current projections indicate your people will eradicate themselves within two decades. My superiors see the potential your race possesses, so losing both them and a perfectly habitable world would be a tragedy" Ron explained.

"Unless you change things" Bookman guessed, earning a nod. "Which begs the question, why me?"

"While I was dealing with stray Otherworlders on this planet, I came across Gold Saw here. She asked to become my assistant for this task. Although I'm sure she's only doing it for its entertainment value" he finished lowly, turning to give the young woman an unidentifiable look. "Some localized information sources at the least could be useful."

Black Gold Saw shrugged nonchalantly. "More or less yeah. Killing terrorists and Witches is fun and all, but it has nothing on what he's up to. After he agreed, I referred you to him, and here we are" she explained with a small wave.

Bookman grunted in thought. "So, you need my help for... what, world peace?"

"As a start. Your assistance is not required, but it would be highly appreciated. If you refuse, I'll simply take my leave" Ron outlined, the corners of his mouth tugging up. "Of course, that's dependent on you refusing."

Bookman felt his own mouth twitching; rather than fighting it, he let out a breathy laugh. "Am I really so obvious?"

"Call it a lucky guess" Ron said, smiling.

Covering his mouth for a moment, Bookman slowly brought himself back under control. "World peace, with my help. You sound just like someone I knew. As long as you don't repeat my mistakes, lets give it a try."

Motioning the Enforcer out of the way, Bookman strode to his desk and reached out, giving a confident smile to Gold Saw when her hand blocked his. A discreet motion from Ron made her reluctantly retract the metal hand, allowing him to hit the intercom.

"Schokolade, cancel my earlier appointments, and pack your bags. We have a long week ahead of us" he said.

"Um, Chief Black? What's going on?" the former field agent turned secretary asked nervously.

"Great things my dear, great things. Call the Director, tell him its an emergency and I need to speak with him as soon as possible" he said, flicking the device off.

xXx

 _Dublin outskirts, two years later..._

A bottle of soda, a bag of caramel sweets, and a water bottle were laid out on the countertop, the dusky toned hand drawing back to allow the cashier girl to do her job. The teenaged girl reached out with shaking limbs, almost jumping when her machine beeped. Flushed with embarrassment, the blonde quickly finished the fellow teen's purchase to ring it up. She was unable to look directly at him, but her eyes kept being drawn back to his stunning face.

"T-that'll be nine euros sir" she half squeaked, her nearly musical Irish accent evident throughout every word she spoke.

The dark skinned customer of medium height duly reached into his pocket to draw a single note to hand over, his flat red gaze on her. Still shaking and trying very hard to keep her calm, she took the ten euro note from his fingers and opened her register. She desperately averted her eyes from the black shirt he wore, which did little to hide his muscled chest. His jeans were likewise avoided, for fear of her imagining what was beneath the cloth.

Her quivering hand held out his change, although she could have just placed it on the counter like most customers. But she needed to feel him, if only for a second. Unfortunately for the girl he didn't oblige her, gently taking the money without touching directly touching her skin. As she swept his food into a shopping bag, he took it and gave her a perfunctory nod.

Gulping, she stammered out, " _Feicfidh mé ar ball thú!_ "

Mid stride he paused, turning his head to give her a curious look. "Pardon?"

Pros: the cashier not only got him to stay a moment longer, but to speak. Her young heart swelled at the sound of his voice. Cons: as she realized with mounting horror, it sounded like she just insulted him. Clearing her throat nervously, the cashier tried to keep her stutter down.

"Um, that's Gaelic sir. It m-means have a g-good day" she answered, briefly coughing into a fist. The teenager nodded thoughtfully.

"I see. Have a good day too" he said neurally, turning back to leave the corner mart. The doorbell jingled with his exit. Out of his sight, the cashier steadied her wobbly legs, trying desperately to keep herself from swooning.

Out in the sunshine of a cloudless summer day (a rarity in this place, so he was told), Jonah reflexively scanned the sidewalks both ways, searching for a hint of danger. What he found instead was a teenage woman, who waved to him to come closer. His mask of stoicism fell away, an ever more common smile coming over the teen as he returned to her side.

Black Rock Shooter drew attention wherever she went, and today was no exception. She had several centimeters on him despite a recent (and rather hyperactive) growth spurt adding an easy ten centimeters to his own height. Her done up black jacket with the prominent star emblem trailed behind her, the cape like flaps hanging above the sidewalk. Meanwhile her knee high boots and matching jean shorts revealed plenty of her well toned thighs, although covering enough to be decent. From her long twin pigtailed head to her usually bare hands, her skin shown with a nearly perpetual healthy glow.

Today was a bit worse than usual; half of the reason was due to the large hard skinned instrument case she had on her back, tied to her torso thanks to a thick nylon strap. The other half Jonah smiled to, reaching up with his hand open. A pair of tiny yet surprisingly strong hands wrapped around his fingers, seeking to draw the teen closer.

" _Daddy_!" squealed the dark toned and black haired boy with all of his considerable enthusiasm, the baby's grinning face alight with happiness. His gear inlaid red eyes were practically blazing at the sight of him.

"I'm back Eli" Jonah greeted, unable to help the sappy grin as the eighteen month old child tugged on his hand.

Rock was smiling too, gently holding onto her son's legs to keep him steady. The boy loved to be on her like this, using her pigtails like handlebars as he rode far above the ground. A huff of a muffled laugh left her when Jonah let go, getting the child to eagerly reach out for him again. His tiny jeans blended well with the girl's blue inclined tint, but his little red long sleeves clashed sharply, like she had a flag over her head.

"Here you go" he handed the soda to Rock, leaving him free to tear the bag of sweets open. Unwrapping one of the cellophane covers, he first offered the candy to the boy, who excitedly grabbed the treat. The boy's tug was resisted however, from Jonah pinching his fingers hard enough to compress the caramel. "What do we say?"

" _Hank you?_ " Elijah 'Eli' S. Mar guessed with a frown. The two words were the cue for him to let go, and another squeal erupted from the child as he happily stuffed the candy in his mouth.

Walking together down the uncrowded sidewalk, Jonah methodically distributed the candy between his wife (legally anyway, they hadn't had a formal wedding yet) and his son, sparing a couple for himself. The uneven balance meant nothing to him; the smiles on both their faces were more than enough for him.

Dublin wasn't very crowded at this time in the morning, although noon was drawing closer. Irish men and women went to and fro towards whatever they wished to do, some giving the oddly matched family a look, some didn't. As long as they didn't try anything, that he could simply enjoy sightseeing off the clock, then he could care less. Relaxing away from work was the only real item on his to do list, right after spending time with his family.

However, not everything was well. To the side Jonah noticed Rock's smile, and knew what it meant. She too was pleased at the off time, but there was a different edge to the grin he caught.

"Still?" he asked with a small frown.

"Of course" she answered with satisfaction, keeping her eyes forward.

Passing by an open air pub, he spotted a white haired young man get onto one knee in front of a woman his age, Japanese by the look of her, offering something tiny in his hand. He was too far away to hear the specific words, but he could tell what was happening easily enough. The woman's shocked gasp and sudden bear hug of the man was proof enough, and a small gathering of locals cheering him with raised glasses was unnecessary but invigorating.

Rock watching the proposal as well, her swiveling head also allowing Eli to look on to the sight. When she briefly let go of his legs to softly clap with the locals, the child joined in via a hearty smack of his own hands.

"Say, while we're in Tokyo..." she left hanging while taking ahold of the boy again.

Jonah sighed, idly adjusting his belt and the Glock he had tucked away. In turn, Rock snorted bemusedly.

"You know, the more you work yourself up, the worse it'll be" she tried soothing, shrugging her shoulders to jostle Eli, partly to stop him from tangling up her pigtails.

"How can I not?" he asked quietly, running a hand over his forehead. "I mean, I don't know what I'll even say to them."

"You could start by showing off your wife and son" she suggested with a wink. He groaned, tipping his head back.

"That's going to make it worse. Elena, Jeano, and Maurice, I haven't seen any of them in almost four years. Showing up out of nowhere with a baby in tow..." he groaned once more. "That's not even touching what I do for a living."

"Don't bring it up, that simple" she offered.

Jonah sighed, slumping. Upon noticing his father's newfound unease, Eli reached out to him with a concerned whine. The teen shook his head in self reproach and held out his hand, allowing the toddler to grab his fingers once again.

"It'll be fine, you'll see" Rock concluded with a smile.

Jonah glumly nodded. "You're probably right, but I'm still worried. Anyway, we're not having the wedding in Tokyo."

"Wha?" she went indignantly, recoiling enough to yank a yelping Eli away. "Why? We're already going to be there for five days, so why shouldn't we get it out of the way?"

"First, because I'm already going to be stressed out from meeting them" Jonah calmly refuted, making a gesture to liven up Eli. "Second, Valmet already has things planned out."

Rock yanked her head over, giving him a surprised look as they passed by a television store. Neither paid any attention to the program on the displays, which was only the news. The colors drew Eli's attention, but he didn't understand any of the information being presented.

'President Valsiov announces new direction for the reformed Russian Federation, amid lingering suspicions of NUP's ousting' went the text scrawl on the bottom of the screen, the boy staring uncomprehendingly.

"Valmet has everything organized already?" Rock questioned sharply.

"Yeah. We're having the wedding in Vienna once we get back from Japan. It was supposed to be a surprise" Jonah explained carefully, navigating around a lamppost.

The girl nodded with a frown. "So that's why she didn't tell me what they were doing while we're gone."

A few seconds later Rock unexpectedly halted, Eli and the case yanking forward with her pausing. Jonah stopped to twist around, worry flashing over his expression. Wearing a frown, the dark haired girl dug into her pocket for a moment, withdrawing her phone. It continued to buzz right up until she tapped the screen, and glanced at what the display told her.

"What is it?" Jonah questioned guardedly, checking around out of habit.

Rock visibly deflated. "Contingency plan time. Koko said things would be okay, but _noo_ " she muttered, shaking her head.

Reaching up, she gently grasped Eli by his tiny chest to pick him up. The toddler wasn't the least bit bothered by going over his mother's head so he could be turned around, cooing as she smiled at him.

"Alright honey, mommy has to go to work. I'll be back in a bit. Kisses?" she offered, jutting her mouth out so Eli could enthusiastically plant a smooch on her cheek. "Love you."

As Jonah accepted the child in his arms, he gave Rock a strange look. "He never does that for me."

"Of course" Rock said, adjusting the heavy case on her back while she searched for an alley. "Eli is your kid and mine. He's a born lady killer."

"I'm not even going to point out the flaws in that sentence" Jonah shook his head in wry bemusement while she walked away. "Anyway, stay safe."

"Always do. Don't forget" mid stride Rock twisted around to point at him. "Tomorrow at nine, we're heading to Narita."

"Can't wait" Jonah muttered, earning a tap on the face from Eli.

Flicking a pigtail out of the way, Rock entered the thin alley. She searched around for any stragglers in the space between buildings, but after a minute she spotted nothing but stray garbage and an angry looking cat giving her a sour glare. As far as she could tell, it was clear.

Satisfied, powerful white lights sprouted from her back, blooming into enormous glowing wings. Glancing skyward, Rock went into a crouch before leaping up, blasting out of the alley and into the air with thin debris in her wake. The feeling of the wind whipping past her at high speed brought a grin to her face almost every time, giving her a sense of exhilaration unlike anything else she'd ever known.

Once she was several hundred meters into the sky, Rock slowed her ascent until she was hanging in mid air. Inhaling deeply, she flared her wings out to their full width, for a moment just enjoying the brisk air. Glancing down, she marveled at the city sprawling below her, the hustle and bustle of civilization seeming so small.

Rock shook her head to clear her thoughts; she had work to do. Pulling out her phone, she opened her downloaded map to look for Koko's meeting point. Cross referencing the aerial view she had with what her device told her, the girl zoomed off at a restrained pace, periodically checking between them

At last she came to the flagged point, far above an abandoned but otherwise ordinary apartment tower. Once she replaced her phone, Rock stared as hard as she could at the building, looking for the cue Koko said she would leave. It took her nearly a minute before she spotted the open window on the fourth floor, making her nod satisfactorily. Wrapping her wings around her, she fell face first in the buildings direction, feeling her hair, coat, and case ripple with her rapid descent. The apartments grew larger with her approach, the girl swiftly coming onto the appointed spot.

Fifty meters away she spread her wings, twisting around so her legs were downwards, one extended out for a flying kick. The roof caved under the force of the impact, the shattered brick and metal hardly slowing her down as she crashed. Through the first she passed, flinging debris everywhere. Right after that was another floor, which she punched through at close to the same speed.

Third time was the charm was the old saying, and the fourth of seven floors was where she engaged her ability to fly. Not to escape, but to slow down enough so she didn't miss her stop.

With a tremendous crash she blew through the ceiling, landing hard enough to leave a spiderweb imprint in the floor. Distantly aware of a table being crushed underfoot, Rock swept her eyes around the dust strewn room, at first feeling her throat clench at the distinct lack of her boss. What she saw instead were three men in street clothes clutching handguns, each coughing while they staggered.

They didn't get the chance to recover before she reached them, not that they could do anything to her. In the blink of an eye she flashed to the first, delivering a powerful backhanded slap which sent him flying through a thin wall. After him she blinked over to sweep the legs out from under the second, ending his life with a punch to his midsection. The third one was more coherent than his comrades, owing to his distance from her entry point.

Gasping incomprehensibly at the intruder, he raised his weapon and fired. This one Rock marched to, feeling the nine millimeter bullets ping off her skin. She noted he had remarkably good aim given the situation, with only one of the eight bullets he fired went wild. Grabbing his forearm to yank it away, she applied a bit of strength even as he threw a desperate punch at her head, which failed to even move her. His arm crunched in her grip, the man letting out a loud scream as he staggered to the floor.

From Rock's point of view, what mattered was the handgun dropping from his limp fingers. Once he collapsed, a kick pushed him against the wall, far away from the gun. While he whimpered in agony, she spared a look at his weapon. Despite the situation, she paused; the pistol on the ground was a Browning Hi-Power. Smiling at the idea of Jonah's reaction, she bent over to snag the weapon, stuffing it into her pocket.

That done, she glanced around the rest of the room, feeling a wash of relief at the trio hugging the far wall. Two of them had SIGs, which they lowered once the hostiles were dealt with. In the middle of the trio the pale woman panted her hands on her hips, leveling an annoyed look on Rock.

"What was wrong with the window?" Koko questioned sternly, R and Valmet nodding in agreement.

"You said you were in danger, I didn't want to give them any warning" Rock explained easily, striding over. Unclipping the strap, she pulled the instrument case around so it was in her hands.

"Not a bad idea, except for the part where you announced your arrival to the thirty plus guys in the building" Valmet told her, her lone eye narrowed.

"I knew this was gonna a bad day, but no one listened to me" R said ruefully, shaking a fist. Koko sighed dramatically and crossed her arms, looking on expectantly.

"Relax, I'm here to rescue you guys. I even bought weapons" Rock cheerfully announced, lowering herself to one knee to set the case on the debris strewn floor. She popped the latches and opened it up, being careful to not reveal the contents to any of them. Reaching inside, she held out the first item with a cheerful, "Ta da!"

R started to grin, but the look on the women's faces made him clamp up. "Uh, thanks."

Koko slapped her face while R took his recently completed and lovingly restored Thompson along with a drum magazine, the man loading the seventy year old SMG enthusiastically. "You packed the case, didn't you?"

"Yep" Rock confirmed, pulling out a radically different weapon. Valmet frowned at the shotgun, especially as Rock planted the stock on her hip while she held onto the barrel. "Hey look, I'm an angel with a-"

"We get it thanks" the Finn snatched the KSG from her loose grip, grabbing the pumping handle to rack the slide.

"Spoilsport" Rock mumbled unhappily.

"That joke got old a while ago, now can we get out of here?" Koko snapped, briefly quieting the room (save for a pained groan from the lone survivor). The silence made her huff, her head falling back to stare at the ceiling. "Sorry. But seriously, this is the last time I sell anything to mobsters. I gave it a couple year grace period, but apparently that wasn't good enough."

Distant shouts from outside the door caught the attentions of all four lucid occupants. The sound was Rock's cue to grab the last item, along with several oversized shells she pocketed. As she slung the case over her back again, the two bodyguards readied their weapons at the door; Valmet taking the lead while R had the rear, with Koko in the middle. There was no question Rock would carve out a path for them to escape.

As Rock leisurely strode to the door, Koko leaned to the side out of uneasy curiosity. In a second she identified what it was, the pale woman wrinkling her brow. "Why do you have that?"

"Because the last time things went wrong, you said my cannon is too visible. Here, the cops won't think a ray gun caused this" the girl answered, planting a 40mm grenade onto the slide and closing the cover.

Rock walked right to the door and raised a leg, delivering a powerful kick to the door's center. It stood no chance of withstanding her strike, and it flew off the hinges several meters before crashing to the ground. In the hallway beyond a hastily organized group of AR equipped Irish mobsters scattered, eliciting a storm of imaginative curses. She didn't care, it left her a perfect opening to lift the pistol grip clad M203 grenade launcher and pull the trigger.

Valmet and Koko flinched from the explosion, the scatter of debris flecking off the Finn while she lowered her arm. Completely unfazed, Rock glanced over her shoulder with a smirk.

"Let's go."

xXx

 **A/N: Welp, here it is. The end of You Came back.**

 **I suppose I could give some closing thoughts, why not I guess? How do I feel about this ending? Better than The Coming Dawn, that's for sure, although admittedly it's not a hard thing to do. But what about my opinion of the overall story?**

 **...**

 **I don't like it.**

 **YCB is rushed, poorly thought out, and riddled with errors. There's plot lines that will never be explored, forgotten ideas, simultaneously too much and too little foreshadowing for plot important events (yeah, poof and now Rocky is super dooper OMGNERFNOW with a half assed barely hinted story behind it) and a walking deus ex machina wandering to and fro with some vague crap tossed out as an excuse for an explanation. It's not a good story.**

 **What it does however, is give you the emotional satisfaction The Coming Dawn should have given. The bad guys are vanquished, the heroes have won, and the lovey dovey romance has reached its inevitable conclusion. Neat I guess. Doesn't excuse the story's poor standards, but whatever.**

 **Credit time!**

 **Keitaro Takahashi, who created Jormungand, an imperfect yet fantastic experience. Thank you for writing the manga, and thank White Fox for turning it into an anime. Say it with me: ~her name is Koko she is loco I say oh no!~**

 **Ryohei Fuke, better known as Huke, who created what should have been a cheap redesign of Hatsune Miku but instead became the niche and excellent Black Rock Shooter. Thanks Fuji TV for making an anime out of it, Kadokawa Shoten for the Innocent Soul manga, and Imageepoch for the games.**

 **I'll give a blanket thanks for the music, all of whom you should go give money to.**

 **Wikipedia again, because where else can I find information about things like the weather of Marseilles during winter, or the specifics of the Denel NTW anti-material rifle? (Which I did goof up a detail in chapter 13; the model used was a 14.5 variant rather than the 20, but one of its selling points is the ability to swap calibers in a few minutes, so it wasn't a huge problem). Other mistakes I have no excuse for, chalk em up to either artistic license or ignorance on my part.**

 **Acidika, you amazing sonofagun, I could praise you all day. Instead I'll just say thank you for sticking with me almost since the beginning. Reader, make sure to check out Insanity when you're finished here.**

 **Admiral Fatass, for the support and the SFM stills. Endless thanks for the cover photo.**

 **Akira Nakamura, you confuse me with the Portuguese, but I LOVE IT! A million times thanks, and not one jackfruit for your head.**

 **Blue xo (formerly Blueskyes dot XX) for the super long reviews, fangirling, and adding to the small yet growing BRS/Jormangand sections. Reader, go visit her Slán Go Fóill when you're done, and bring a box of tissues.**

 **Scouttroop, thanks for the love, and HAIL HYDRA!**

 **chrisharte111597, you're a latecomer to the party, but here's a heartfelt thanks from me to you. You'll put Silver Cypher to better use than I did, I know it.**

 **Gooball, you fell off the map, but a hug and a shoutout for you anyway.**

 **DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, another latecomer but a thanks anyway.**

 **Grim of Brennus Hope, hugs and kisses.**

 **VentXekart, you're perhaps my most under appreciated fan. *hugs***

 **marethyu the proxy, your name makes the servers flip out, so hats off to that and the support.**

 **KisarageiKei for the infrequent edits and opinions despite not really caring for the story itself. Thanks man, I mean it.**

 **And to you dear reader, for getting this far, through the good times and bad, through the best and the worst. Its been a long road, but I couldn't have done it without you.**

 **R̡͇͙̦̥̠̫̥/͓̣̮̙̦̘̞͟ͅN̲̭̞͚͖̹̺̣͡;̵̲̖͉͖̝̟̝̮͟͞ what he said, stay safe guys! and remember, im watching you-ow!**

 **R-N: Don't spoil it Ram, you have work to do remember? And quit with the zalgo text, its hard to read.**

 **K/N: Woah, look at that, I owe you some booze Miami. Now, see what this bad boy can do here.**

 **R̡͇͙̦̥̠̫̥/͓̣̮̙̦̘̞͟ͅN̲̭̞͚͖̹̺̣͡;̵̲̖͉͖̝̟̝̮͟͞, R-N: Uh Oh.**

 **K/N: Oh you're in for it now. Jormungand, engaged.**

 **This is How-Not-To-Do-Something, bidding you farewell, and safe travels. Until next time!**


	17. Seventeen Years Later

_Palermo Sicily, March 2030..._

 _Ring ring._

Jonah swiveled his eye to the side, sighing through his nose. The noise was grating on his nerves, more than the bright Mediterranean sun beating down on his uncomfortable position. Mustering his reserves of mental strength, he willed the device in his ear to be silent.

 _Ring ring._

He muttered a curse. Carefully taking his hand away from its task, he flexed to do something about the stiffness, due to being still for the better part of the morning. Whatever momentary relief he felt was put to an end when he tapped the headset, connecting the call.

 _Ring-click._ "Hello?"

" _Hello, is this Mr. Jonathan Mar?_ " asked a humorless feminine voice, the words pronounced with a noticeable Australian accent.

Jonah sighed. "Speaking."

" _Mr. Mar, I'm Stacy Hogan, of St. McCades Boy's Academy. I'm calling about your son, Elijah. Is this a good time?_ " the woman asked neutrally.

"I'm between meetings right now" Jonah checked his wristwatch; the small display told him the time and the caller ID, while the sun threatened to wash out the light. "I have a few minutes. What seems to be the problem?"

" _Your son hasn't shown up for his morning classes. Our safety officials searched the Academy from top to bottom, but he doesn't seem to be on the grounds_ " Hogan told him, inserting a degree of coldness into her tone.

"I'll give him a call" Jonah said, spotting movement.

Hogan sighed irritably. " _Mr. Mar, your son's truancy isn't the only reason I'm calling. I am hereby giving you five days notice for a parent teacher conference, to be held on the twenty fifth._ "

"Pardon?" he asked, stunned enough to look away from his scope.

" _The board's patience with Elijah is at an end Mr. Mar. His poor academic performance, continual violent record, and frequent tardiness would be concerning individually, but together like this, its not something that can be ignored any longer._ "

"If its a problem with funding, you can take it up with Mrs. Hekmatyr" Jonah replied, all trace of friendliness gone.

" _Mr. Mar, finance isn't the problem. Your company has been more than generous-_ " Jonah took a breath and moved his free hand, creating a distinctive double clack. " _What was that?_ "

"Construction equipment" Jonah replied, steadying his nerves.

The suppressed Brazilian made IA4 carbine, a distant relative of his long gone FNC, now had a 6.5mm telescoped round chambered, and with a flick of his hand the safety was turned off. Peering through his scope, he awaited the arrival of his mission. It wasn't the optimal tool for the job, but the Remington M30 he was supposed to use got caught by a Customs agent when it entered Italy, leaving him with only his main weapons.

"Mr. Mar, you just said you were between meetings."

"Didn't say it was mine" Jonah corrected, tensing when he saw the target walking into sight. It didn't seem right to shoot someone within view of a church, but there wasn't a better location during the planning session. The middle aged man, a business rival trying to push out all competition in the market, needed to go. At less than a hundred meters away, he was the one to remove him from the equation.

The woman mumbled something away from the phone. " _Nevertheless Mr. Mar, this is a serious matter, and I urge to to treat this with-_ "

"I'm afraid I'm out of time Miss Hogan. I'll call you later for details for the conference, thank you and goodbye" Jonah killed the line just as she sputtered out a protest, exhaling to clear his mind.

Out from the corner, the businessman entered his line of sight. Jonah didn't fire right away, counting the number of suit wearing bodyguards around him. After a moment he determined there were only four, and none had anything larger than pistols hidden away. Lining up the sights in his scope, he saw a close up of the target's head, just as the man turned to laugh at a joke.

He fired, hearing the low cough of the weapon's report; a heartbeat later the target's head jerked back in a spray of blood, dousing the bodyguard immediately behind him. Jonah kept in place for a moment, watching the bodyguards scramble to yank out sidearms. When he saw only twitches from the body, he recognized his job was done. Grabbing the lone casing to stuff into his pocket, Jonah pushed himself up turned away, holding his rifle underhanded as he huddled along the buildings roof. At the edge he paused to take a deep breath, and jumped.

The single story fall he took ended in a roll, the man grunting while trying to do something about his momentum; finishing with a planted fist, Jonah breathed deeply. Checking his legs first, he found them sore but functional. Next his arms, to the same result. Last came the rifle, with the IA4 in as good as a condition as a moment ago. Satisfied, he thumbed the safety and took off in a dead sprint through the alley.

Jonah knew how visible he was; a thirtiesh man in a black shirt and khaki pants wasn't memorable, not unless they had a black equipment vest, a pistol in a thigh holster, and were toting a military grade rifle, all of which he had. Shouts which were unnervingly close by informed the shooter that the man's bodyguards were onto him, meaning he had to move.

He just cleared the first alley when he heard a couple men barreling after him. Based on their speed, he realized they wouldn't catch him before he reached his escape, but that meant they would see his ride. All it took from there was a phone call to the police, then he and his comrades were in deep trouble. Dismissing his rifle as an option, he darted around a corner to slap against the wall, wrapping its sling around his torso.

Drawing his sidearm, Jonah listened for the men, who made no attempt at stealth. Gripping the weapon, he racked the slide and waited, hearing them coming closer by the second. When the first of the suited men bowled out from the alley, he aimed at his back as the last guard darted into view. The man only realized Jonah's location when he pulled the trigger.

The Kimber Custom kicked in his hands, a strong jolt compared to the nine millimeters he trained on so long ago. His personal sidearm planted a 10mm bullet in the second bodyguards spine, dropping him with a cry. The first man was faster than he seemed, whipping himself around with an ever popular Glock in hand. But he had to aim the weapon first, something Jonah beat him towards; two more booms in the enclosed space knocked him back in a spray of blood.

Letting the ringing subside for a moment, he listened for more oncoming attackers; if they didn't know where he was before, they most certainly did now. Bending over to grab his casings, he added them to the lone rifle case in his pocket. No reason to be slovenly, as Wiley would say,

Taking off once again, Jonah stuffed the Kimber back into his holster mid sprint, feeling his rifle bounce against his back. He wasn't running in a random direction, and after he vaulted over a small fence he found himself on a sparsely populated sidewalk. Jerking his head around to search, he snapped towards a silver four door car roaring up to the curb. Yanking the IA4 around, he trained the sights on the vehicle as the passenger side was flung open.

"Move!"

While most people would be uncertain about an unknown car and a voice yelling for them to get in, Jonah wasn't one of them this time. Sprinting ahead, he planted a hand on the fender to slid across the hood, landing hard on his boots. He didn't stop moving; going around the door to jump into the open seat he dove inside, a jerk of his free hand preventing his rifle from being crushed underneath. No sooner than he slam the door shut did the car take off, tires squealing.

Chest rising from the effort, Jonah maneuvered the rifle between the seats, where a pair of hands accepted the weapon. Doing that left him free to clip on his seatbelt, finally allowing the adrenaline in his system to fade away. All that done, he turned to the driver to say, "We're good."

"Great" sighed Ugo, relaxing his white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. The bulky driver had slimmed down some in the past couple years, with his shaved hairstyle showing more specks of grey than he liked to have. Along with the deepening lines on his face, he was being subjected to more and more ribs of getting old. "You're late by the way."

"Not my fault, had to get closer for the shot" Jonah replied, glancing over his shoulder to the backseat. "Any trouble?"

"None here" answered a twenty year old girl, as she let go of the seats to flop back.

Her dark skin combined with her blonde hair echoed his own appearance, although her preferred wardrobe of a sleeveless turtleneck shirt and khaki pants weren't a firm match for his own outfit. She was the kind of person who always looked like she was fuming, though she had perhaps the most even temperament he ever saw. For a new recruit with less than four months on the job, she was doing remarkably well.

All three occupants tensed when a police car barreled past them, sirens blaring. Three pairs of eyes went to the mirrors, waiting for it to turn around. After a few seconds of nothing, they relaxed.

"You know I could've helped with this mission" the girl spoke up, one hand going for the KRISS Vector on the seat beside her. The man's rifle was set on the other side, the girl taking a few seconds to remove the suppressor for him.

Jonah cracked his neck as he turned to the side. "Didn't need you this time. I know you want more experience in how we do things, but neither I nor Koko think you're ready. I do know" he held up a hand to silence her. "What's on your record. This needed more care."

As she quietly groaned, Ugo gathered a smile. "Cheer up Canaan, you'll get your chance."

"How? When all do is accompany the rest of you in walking around?" the former militant asked testily.

"You're being eased in. Next chance we get, ask Rock how long it took for her to see combat" Jonah offered, glancing out the window. It was a shame he reflected; Palermo was such a beautiful place, committing an assassination here seemed wrong.

"Well, on the bright side, this was about as easy as it gets. Least you're not being tossed into a war zone first thing" Ugo consoled, turning down another street at the speed limit; six different military grade weapons in a first world country was a great incentive to obey traffic laws.

Canaan huffed in displeasure, crossing her arms. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Jonah was about to chide her for being impatient, until the screen at the center of the dashboard lit up. An icon was on the small display, the long obsolete cartoon image of a telephone. At the same time, a sonorous voice came through the speakers to catch their attentions.

" _~Good morning beautiful, how was your night~_ " went the loving voice of the singer, a tune Jonah reserved for just one person. It was his cue to hit an icon on the screen, connecting the car to his headset.

"I hate your ringtone" Canaan muttered, Ugo wisely deciding to keep silent.

" _~Mine was wonderful, with-_ " _click_. " _Hey hon, you busy?_ "

Jonah smiled. "Nah, just finished up beautiful. How's Athens?"

" _Pretty good, now that the tourist season is over. I just got done shopping for Valmet actually, she's cooking for a dinner with Koko tonight. How'd the job go?_ " Black Rock Shooter asked genially.

"In progress still, but the main hurdle is over. We'll be at the ferry in..." he glanced to Ugo.

"Dunno, ten minutes?" he offered.

" _Sweet, I'll pass the word along. You know if something happens, I'm maybe four hours away_ " Rock offhandedly mentioned.

"Thanks, but nothings happened so far. I doubt anything will" Canaan dismissed, making the woman on the phone tsk.

" _Now you went and jinxed it Canny_ " the nickname caused the girl who once tried to kill them to grind her teeth. " _Anyway Jonah, I just got a call a few minutes ago, it making me worry_ " Rock's cheer morphed into concern.

"St McCades? They just called me a little while ago too" he checked, frowning himself.

" _I assumed. Look, I know Eli is a troublemaker, but the schools never gone this far before. I'm not sure what we're gonna do_ " she said worriedly.

"I'm not sure either. I played the Koko card, but they didn't budge. They have to know who owns the place" Jonah shrugged, although he knew she couldn't see him.

" _They're not that dense. Anyway, I tried calling Eli to get his ass back in school, but he didn't pick up_ " Rock added, causing Jonah to raise his eyebrow.

"Want me to try?" he asked.

" _If you don't mind. There's a difference between being late for honest reasons and just skipping. If he doesn't answer though, I think we should get the police involved_ " she suggested.

"Not a bad idea, will do. Alright babe, gotta go. Love you" Jonah finished, reaching for the screen.

" _Love you too, stay safe, and call me once you're on the mainland_ " Rock concluded with a smooch noise, eliciting a chuckle from him as he tapped to end the call.

"Sickening" Canaan said dryly, getting both men to roll their eyes.

"Just wait until you fall in love" Ugo joked, taking a corner down a narrow yet oddly empty street.

"Never gonna happen" she declared.

Jonah smiled, peering into the rearview mirror. "That's what they all say. Next thing you know..."

Ugo glanced over, his own grin vanishing when he saw the look on his face. "What's up?"

"Pull over" Jonah commanded, features contracting into a cold scowl. "Stop the car right now."

When he slammed on the brakes, the men jerked forwards, as Canaan nearly met the center console face first. The moment the vehicle stopped moving, Jonah threw the door open to barge out, flinging his seatbelt hard enough to hit the car body. Seconds later he flung the back door wide open as well, snatching up his rifle. Exiting the vehicle himself, Ugo looked over the car roof at Jonah, baffled as he popped the trunk to dig inside.

"Hey! What the hell?!" he yelled. Jonah only replied when he was finished, slamming the trunk shut before facing him.

"Go, get out of here" he commanded with a stern wave down the street, loaded with several additional magazines for both the IA4 and his Kimber. "I'll handle this."

"Handle what!? What's going on?" Ugo demanded, as an utterly confused Canaan popped out to look.

Jonah turned to march off, slowing just long enough to look over his shoulder.

" _Ram._ "

All the color in Ugo's face drained away, momentary fear clouding his expression. When he recovered his wits, Jonah was gone. Meanwhile Canaan reached inside to grab her Vector, but was stopped by the driver grabbing her arm.

Darting into the same ally he saw her enter, Jonah raised his rifle to sweep the small space. Setting his mouth into a hard line, he persistently moved on, the weapon's barrel pointed at everywhere he looked. The utter lack of a human presence didn't concern him, but a tiny part of his mind hoped there were no civilians about to be caught in the crossfire.

Clearing the narrow space, he felt his heart thudding in his chest. But still he pressed onwards, cautiously moving out into the empty street. It was then he became aware of the lack of sounds, with nothing in the area making noise but him. The man felt his spine tingle at the near impossible silence in the city. Stepping into the abandoned street, he swept the rifle around the suddenly foreboding buildings, spotting not a single thing, human or otherwise.

His breathing picking up, Jonah snapped his body around to the empty street. The soft noise in the nearly still air made him tighten his grip.

"~Ońce I ͏r̵o͜se a͘bo͘v͞e͢ the ͢n̶oi̷śę and ͘c͜on̶f͟u͢sion͜,͡ ̵ju͟s̵t͜ ͡to get̶ ̴a g͟li͠m̨ps͘e͞ ̕b́ey̵o̴ńd͏ this ҉i̷l͜lus͜ion~"

Even with the distance turning the words into a faint whisper, he recognized the voice immediately. It had been almost seventeen years since he heard the voice last, yet she sounded exactly the same as he remembered. The sweet, friendly, condescending voice he hated more than any other individual in his thirty three years of life.

"~̀I̴ wa͞s ̨s͘oaring e͘veŕ hi̴ghȩr,̴ ̵b̴u҉t͘ I f̧l̨e̶w̴ ̷t͝oo͜ h̡įg̷ḩ~͝"

Gritting his teeth from the pain, Jonah focused on the direction the voice came from. But in a few seconds, the noise unexpectedly came from the complete opposite direction.

"͡~̵T̕h͘óug̴h̕ my̢ e҉y̕es ̛co͟u̵ld̨ see͡ ̕I stilļ ͜was ̧a̕ ̴blind̛ m̀an̷, thoug͠h ͡my̨ m̸in̛d҉ ̢c͡ou̷ld ͢t̢hin҉k͘ I̴ st̵i͢ll̕ ̕w͏a̵s ̵a̶ ̧m̶a͡d̡ ͜m͟a҉n͜~"

Coming out in short pants, Jonah tried his hardest to keep his breathing under control. It was difficult, since the much closer sound could manifest as an attacker at any time.

"~͡Į hear th̶ę v͠oic̴es̵ ͏wh̛e͠n ͏I'̨m ̢dre̡aming̸,̵ ̛I͢ ̕can ͠he͜a̷r them ҉say~"

Whipping around to the ally, he narrowed all of his attention to a fine point. He didn't enter what the rest of the squad called his bullet time, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

"~͜Carr͜y on̶ my ̀w͡ąy̶w͏a̕r͡d̕ ̸son҉, t͡h͏e͡re'͟l̸l̕ b͟e p̵ea̶ce ̷wh̷en y͘o͟u̵ ́are doné~" came the high pitched female voice, now accompanied by a set of taps on the ground. Both grew louder and clearer with every moment.

"~Lay ͠y͠our we̵a̛ry h͢e͜a̵d҉ to re͜s͞t~" he aimed at the figure as she came into his vision, the seemingly teenaged girl appearing exactly as he recalled her. From the light toned fancy outfit she wore to the goat horns on her head, down to the pleased smirk she focused on him. She strode out into the open street with her arms clasped behind her back, uncaring of the rifle pointed at her face.

"Do͞nt̡ you cry no more" Ram finished, pausing several meters away to nod in acknowledgement. "Hello Jonathan, long time no see."

Everything in Jonah's mind was pushed away, freeing up all of his focus to place upon the girl.

"Carry on Wayward Son, nineteen seventy six. Always had a soft spot for the classics. What about you?" Ram playfully asked, walking with measured slowness to the side. He kept his rifle aimed at her head the entire time. "Me, I caught a Kansas concert back in the eighties, didn't think too highly of it at the time."

Jonah ground his teeth together, barely keeping himself from scowling. "What are you doing here?"

"Why indeed. The answer to that partially lies in the lyrics to one of my favorite songs of all time, a certain gem by the Police" Ram giggled, her movement unchanging as she circled him. "But to give a somewhat straight answer, I'm here for you."

The reply brought on a scowl at last, the man tightening the grip on his weapon.

"Well, to be accurate, you're part of the reason. Tell me, did that posh private school in Perth, the one your boss bought a decade back, did they give you a call a little while ago?" Ram suddenly stopped moving, flopping her head to the side with her smirk growing wider. "Something about Elijah missing his classes?"

In a flash Jonah's countenance was shattered, raw fear flashing over him. In an instant he snarled, jerking himself closer with his finger curled on the trigger.

"Oh, they did" she said, giving a nod of understanding.

"What did you do with Eli!? What'd you do with my son!?" Jonah barked, baring his teeth.

"I haven't harmed him if that's what you're thinking" The horned girl tilted her head back, her magenta eyes still on him. "You know, you are without a doubt my favorite project. Every other subject I've observed and guided was aggravating in one way or another, and I'll be lying if I said you were flawless. But your positive traits outweigh all of your negatives ones" she explained pridefully, watching him simmer with barely controlled rage. "And now, its time for them to shine."

A sudden thought made the man peer to his feet. Once again his rage was fractured, due to a pool of inky black stuff expanding until he was firmly in the center.

"I suppose this is how a banker feels about his favorite investment. Seeing it grow, and grow, and grow, collecting interest, until it's finally time to cash it in. That day is now Jonah" Ram concluded by snapping her fingers.

His feet fell out from under him, and with a yelp he collapsed. His weapon sank into the pool, along with him to his waist. The rate of which he fell into the flattened portal slowed, until he was sinking in at an inch per second. Jonah thrashed and snarled, trying to free himself from the cold grip. But to no avail.

"Come now" Ram chided as she stepped closer, uncaring of the enraged look falling on her. "You knew this was coming. You knew I wasn't done with you. You had a decade to experience a happy life, the memories to carry with you through the bad times" she stopped at the edge of the portal, lowering herself to a crouch. "Eli has been busy making new friends since I sent him along, and in a little while you will be too."

Jonah sank until only his head was above the surface, his face a mask of raw hate.

"Just play it cool, give strangers a chance, and you'll go far. Good luck, and boop" reaching out, Ram extended a finger to poke his nose, sinking him the rest of the way into the portal.

It dissolved into wisps of smoke as she stood up, clapping her hands as she grinned. A pair of soft taps beside her made Ram glance over, evidently pleased. "So Ron, ready on your end?"

"Yeah" the tall and lanky man in black replied, showing none of her enthusiasm as he examined the place Jonah vanished into. "Control is officially turned over to Silver Cypher, Malachi, and Gold Saw. They're briefed, prepared, and stocked up, leaving me free to pursue this mission. The Velvet Fist is ready for launch, the whole gangs already loaded. We're just waiting on you."

Ram giggled, turning around with a bounce to her step. "And the others?"

"Subject Fifteen, Subject Thirty Nine, and now Subject Four are on the ground, they'll link up shortly" he replied, rolling his head over his shoulders.

"Excellent. Aren't you excited?" Ram asked, eyes gleaming.

"I'm nervous" he admitted, flexing to stretch his arm. "They're going to be pissed when the news gets dropped, not to mention what they're here for."

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime" Ram reached into her sleeve, withdrawing a page of creamy paper. On the note was a message, written in fine penmanship. "Black Rock Shooter needs her directions, how else will she join the fun?"

"You sure its a good idea to involve her? Considering the risks" Ron asked guardedly.

Ram bent over to place the note on the ground, distantly aware of a newcomer approaching their location. "It'll work out. This is the beginning of the end Ron, the time to hold back is done. Now" she waved a hand to spawn a smaller portal. "Let's go do the impossible."

xXx

...

xXx

 _ **Jonah, Black Rock Shooter, and Eli will return in Converged Destiny.**_


End file.
